No, the EU did not suspend the AR requirement for U.S. exporters. Here is what Article 45 actually says.

Every few weeks in 2026, a trade outlet runs a headline along the lines of "EU suspends packaging AR requirement." The headlines are technically accurate about one thing and dangerously incomplete about everything else. They are accurate that the European Commission has proposed suspending Article 45(3) of PPWR until 2035. They are incomplete because the proposed suspension applies only to producers established in the EU. 

For U.S. companies exporting packaged goods into the European Union, nothing has changed. The Authorised Representative appointment requirement still applies. It still has an August 12, 2026 effective date. And every passing month makes it harder to appoint, brief, and integrate an AR before that date. 

This article explains exactly what Article 45 requires of non-EU producers, what the proposed suspension actually changes, and what U.S. exporters need to have done before the August 2026 deadline. 
 

What Article 45 Actually Requires

Article 45(3) of Regulation (EU) 2025/40 (PPWR) requires producers to appoint an Authorised Representative for Extended Producer Responsibility in each EU Member State where they make packaging available on the market for the first time, unless the producer is itself established in that Member State. 

The AR is the legal entity in the Member State that takes on the producer's EPR obligations on their behalf. That includes registering the producer with the national packaging EPR scheme, paying the eco-modulated fees that apply to the formats placed on the market, filing the annual packaging tonnage and material reports, and serving as the point of contact for the national competent authority. 

For a U.S. exporter, this means a separate AR appointment in every Member State of first placement. A brand selling into Germany, France, Italy, Spain, and the Netherlands needs five AR relationships. Each one requires a written mandate, a defined scope, and a contractual arrangement that survives audit. None of this happens overnight. 
 

What the December 2025 Proposal Actually Does

In December 2025 the European Commission published proposal COM/2025/982, which would suspend the operation of Article 45(3) until 1 January 2035. The proposal was framed as administrative relief during a period when many Member States are still building out the national EPR infrastructure that PPWR assumes. 

The relief is narrow. The proposed suspension applies to producers established in the EU. It does not apply to producers established in third countries — which is the legal term for any company headquartered outside the EU, including all U.S. exporters. The proposal text and the Commission's accompanying impact assessment are unambiguous on this point. Article 45(3) explicitly preserves the Member States' authority to impose AR requirements on third-country producers. 

If you are a U.S. company placing packaging on the EU market, the suspension is not for you. It was never for you. The obligation applies from August 12, 2026 and the news cycle will not change that. 

The reason this confusion will keep recurring is structural. Trade press headlines compress complex regulatory text into eight-word summaries. "EU suspends packaging AR" is shorter than "EU proposes to suspend packaging AR for EU-established producers only while preserving the requirement for third-country producers." The shorter version travels further. The longer version is the one that matches the regulation. 
 

What U.S. Exporters Need to Do Before August 12, 2026

Three steps, in order, that any U.S. exporter selling packaged goods into the EU should have underway now. 

• Map the Member states. Identify every Member State where your packaging is placed on the market for the first time — not where the final consumer is, but where the goods clear customs and first enter EU commerce. A single distributor relationship can route product through one Member State for half a dozen final markets. The AR obligation attaches to the first-placement Member State.

 

• Shortlist AR Providers. There are credible AR specialists in every major Member State. Most charge a setup fee plus an annual retainer, and most scope by packaging tonnage rather than SKU count. Get three quotes per Member State. Confirm that the provider is registered with the national EPR scheme and has experience with your product category. 

 

• Build the Documention Foundation. Your AR will need an annual packaging tonnage report by material category. If you cannot generate that report today, the AR appointment is the easy part. The data infrastructure is the hard part. This is where most U.S. exporters discover that their packaging records are scattered across procurement, R&D, and supplier files with no single source of truth.

 

In Closing

The Article 45 deadline is not the strategic risk that PPWR creates for U.S. exporters. The strategic risk is the 1 January 2030 market-access cliff, where packaging formats that do not meet recyclability Grade C or higher cannot be placed on the EU market at all. But the AR appointment is the gating administrative requirement that makes everything else possible. Without an AR in place by August 2026, the brand cannot legally place packaging on the market in that Member State, recyclable or not. 

If you are exporting into the EU and have not started the AR conversation, the next 60 days matter. If you have started but are not sure your scope is right, a second pair of eyes is cheap. Contact us today.