What you need to know when purchasing goods from abroad
When you purchase or import goods from abroad, you may become subject to producer responsibility for packaging. Use the three questions below to quickly determine whether your company has producer responsibility. https://producentansvar.dk/produkter-og-ansvar/emballage/hvem-er-slutbruger-af-emballerede-produkter/
When you purchase or import goods from abroad, you may become subject to producer responsibility for packaging. Whether your company has producer responsibility depends, among other things, on whether you are the first business to make the packaging available on the Danish market and whether you unpack or repackage the goods before selling them on.
If you are unsure whether you have producer responsibility, start by asking yourselves these three questions.
1. Are you the end user of the product?
First, determine whether the product is intended for use within your own business or whether it will be resold.
If you use the product yourself, you are generally considered the end user and will normally not have producer responsibility for the packaging.
If, on the other hand, the product forms part of your sales or distribution activities, you may become subject to producer responsibility for the packaging.
Read more about the end-user concept.
2. Who unpacks the packaging?
It matters who removes the packaging and thereby generates the packaging waste.
If you unpack goods or remove transport packaging before the goods are resold or otherwise made available on the market, you may become subject to producer responsibility for the packaging you remove. This is also known as the unpacker rule.
This applies, among other things, if you remove:
- Pallets
- Stretch wrap
- Transport boxes
- Other transport packaging
3. Are you the first business to make the packaging available on the Danish market?
In many cases, producer responsibility lies with the business that first makes the packaging or the packaged product available on the Danish market.
You should therefore determine whether it is your company or another business in the supply chain that first places the packaging on the market.
If you import goods directly from abroad, your company will often be the first business on the Danish market. As a result, you may become subject to producer responsibility for the packaging.
Examples of producer responsibility when importing or purchasing goods from abroad
See examples of situations in which you may become subject to producer responsibility for packaging when purchasing or importing goods from abroad.
You import packaged products from a foreign company. The goods arrive at your warehouse, where you unpack and repackage them before making them available on the Danish market.
At the same time, you dispose of the transport packaging.
You have producer responsibility for all imported packaging, including the transport packaging.
You import products from a non-EU country. The goods are shipped directly to a Danish warehousing and logistics company, which stores, picks, packs, and ships the goods to your customers.
The warehousing and logistics company disposes of the imported transport packaging on your behalf.
The warehousing and logistics company has producer responsibility for the packaging it handles as part of its activities.
You import large sacks of paprika from a foreign supplier. You open the sacks and repackage the paprika into smaller spice jars, which are then sold on the Danish market.
You import paprika from a foreign supplier. The paprika is used as an ingredient in food products that you manufacture and sell on the Danish market.