Ban on distribution? Online retailers and packaging law!

Attention!

As of Tuesday, there will be a new legal hurdle, for example for online retailers, namely the new packaging law. According to unverified figures, only about 10 of the companies and entrepreneurs who are actually obliged to do so are said to have registered with the responsible foundation Central Office Packaging Register.

However, this can quickly take revenge, because a lack of registration until 31.12.2018 will lead to a sales ban from Tuesday, not only theoretically. Violation of the distribution ban can be punished with severe fines.

The law applies to all packaging filled with goods and supplied by the final consumer on the market. Online retailers are also affected. The principle of extended product responsibility applies. Thus, anyone who circulates filled packaging is responsible for their return and recovery. In order to check, therefore, it is necessary to determine whether sales packaging which “typically accrues to the private end user” (Section 3 no. 8 of the Packaging G) is placed on the market to the end customer. For online retailers, these are typically things like shipping packaging, tape and bulking material.

It’s best to sign up right away

It is therefore strongly recommended that you register here and take care of registering with the dual system (please note that you will need to register with a partner that meets your requirements). This is particularly true as this link can be used to check whether a company is registered or not, even automatically, as an obligation under Section 9 VerpackG, simply by entering the VAT ID or tax number.

So I don’t think it’s unlikely that warnings will take advantage of this and try to target online retailers. Of course, there is no case law on this yet. But fines can certainly hurt a lot, especially smaller companies, such as ebay retailers or Amazon sellers. The use of dropshipping is also tricky on eBay and Amazon. Even if in this case the packer/consignor, who is often sitting abroad, is actually responsible, he may – in most cases – have not licensed correctly.

What else do you have to think about?

In addition to registration, dealers also have other work ahead of them, such as ensuring that packaging from the manufacturer (e.g. the sales carton, etc.) is already fully licensed. These declarations should also be documented and archived, because in case of doubt, the trader or “marketer” will eventually have to prove. The second major obligation is to collect data on how much packaging waste is generated for things like mailing bags, etc., because the Packaging Act knows no allowances and no exceptions even for small retailers. However, there are quite dual partners, which cost small traders only a few euros a month, but also for which the scope of the material and the composition must be determined, and the documentation for this must be archived accordingly later.

More details on the Act on the Further Development of Household Separate Collection of Recyclable Waste can be found directly in the Federal Law Gazette. This FAQ provides a summary.

If Interested, I will post a few more posts next week on the other commitments.

Author: Marian Härtel

Marian Härtel ist Rechtsanwalt und Fachanwalt für IT-Recht mit einer über 25-jährigen Erfahrung als Unternehmer und Berater in den Bereichen Games, E-Sport, Blockchain, SaaS und Künstliche Intelligenz. Seine Beratungsschwerpunkte umfassen neben dem IT-Recht insbesondere das Urheberrecht, Medienrecht sowie Wettbewerbsrecht. Er betreut schwerpunktmäßig Start-ups, Agenturen und Influencer, die er in strategischen Fragen, komplexen Vertragsangelegenheiten sowie bei Investitionsprojekten begleitet. Dabei zeichnet sich seine Beratung durch einen interdisziplinären Ansatz aus, der juristische Expertise und langjährige unternehmerische Erfahrung miteinander verbindet. Ziel seiner Tätigkeit ist stets, Mandanten praxisorientierte Lösungen anzubieten und rechtlich fundierte Unterstützung bei der Umsetzung innovativer Geschäftsmodelle zu gewährleisten.