The EU's new Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation, Regulation (EU) 2025/40 (PPWR), has been directly applicable since 12 August 2026. In addition to introducing environmental and compliance requirements for packaging, it revises the definitions that determine extended producer responsibility (EPR) obligations. A fundamental objective is to harmonise EPR rules across Member States.

In practice, uncertainty may arise because the PPWR and Hungary's EPR Decree may assign EPR obligations to different economic operators in the same transaction. Hungarian legislation does not yet clearly establish how the PPWR's new definitions should be applied when determining domestic record-keeping, reporting and fee payment obligations.

How is the definition of producer changing?

Under the PPWR, a manufacturer, importer or distributor may qualify as a producer, depending on the circumstances of the transaction. The assessment includes identifying who first makes the packaging or packaged product available, in which Member State, and to whom.

The current Hungarian EPR regime, by contrast, continues to link liability primarily to the first placing of a circular product on the domestic market or its use for own purposes. Consequently, certain purchasing and sales arrangements may be assessed differently depending on whether the PPWR or the Hungarian EPR Decree is applied.

Where might differences arise in practice?

A typical example concerns packaged products purchased from abroad. If the Hungarian business is the end user, the PPWR definition of producer may mean that the foreign business selling directly to that Hungarian end user qualifies as the producer.

However, Section 17(3) of Hungarian Government Decree 80/2023 (14 March), the EPR Decree, treats the permanent separation of foreign-manufactured packaging from a product as use for own purposes if the separated packaging becomes packaging waste in Hungary. Under this provision, the same transaction may give rise to EPR obligations for the Hungarian business that unpacks the product.

Similar questions of interpretation may arise when empty packaging is purchased. Under the PPWR, for transport packaging, service packaging and primary production packaging, producer status may already arise when the empty packaging is first made available in a Member State. For an empty pallet, for example, the producer may be the operator that first makes it available in Hungary, rather than the business that subsequently uses it to transport its products.

Different rules may apply to sales packaging and grouped packaging, so each packaging type and supply chain needs to be assessed separately.

What is the authority's current position?

According to the informal oral guidance available from the authority, questions of interpretation concerning the PPWR and the Hungarian EPR Decree remain under review. Until a new interpretation is published, the authority continues to regard the Hungarian EPR Decree and existing domestic practice as its point of reference.

Oral guidance does not, however, constitute a binding legal interpretation. The PPWR is a directly applicable EU regulation, and its provisions must therefore also be taken into account when applying Hungarian rules. In the absence of a formal written position, it is still not possible in every case to determine unequivocally which economic operator bears the Hungarian EPR obligations.

Why does this create a risk?

The uncertainty may be particularly problematic in cross-border transactions. If Member States interpret and apply the PPWR definition of producer differently, two economic operators in two different Member States may each be considered liable for EPR in respect of the same packaging, creating a risk of duplicate EPR fees.

This may result in parallel registration, reporting or fee payment obligations. The reverse situation is also possible: if each party assumes that the other is responsible, the EPR obligations may remain unfulfilled.

What should businesses prepare for?

Pending an official legal interpretation, businesses should consider:

• reviewing their cross-border and domestic purchasing and sales arrangements;
• identifying the supply chain participants and the place of first making available on the market for each packaging type;
• documenting the legal interpretation they follow and the reasons for it;
• agreeing with their overseas partners how EPR obligations will be met.

Any decision to retain or amend existing EPR practices should therefore be based on a transaction-specific assessment of both the PPWR and Hungarian legislation, seeking a written position from the authority where necessary.