compliance teamPPWR authorised representative for Poland: what exists and what does not
Step 1
Test whether Article 45(3) applies
Step 2
Separate the mandate from the power of attorney
Step 3
Execute and date each instrument
Step 4
Watch the Polish reform without pricing it
| Control | Evidence to retain |
|---|---|
| Scope | Entity, product, channel, stream and source |
| External action | Version, date, authorised filer and issued receipt |
| Maintenance | Source data, approval, invoice and next deadline |
The EU duty applies; the Polish machinery does not exist yet
Since 12 August 2026, Article 45(3) requires a producer making packaging or packaged products available in another Member State for the first time, including under a distance contract, to appoint an authorised representative for extended producer responsibility there by written mandate. It reaches a producer that is not established in Poland and makes those products available in Poland directly to the end user. Distance contracts are included, not the only route, and the producer profiles concerned are those in Article 3(15)(c) and (d).
Poland has no packaging authorised representative in national law and no register built to receive one. The producer registers foreseen by the regulation depend on a Commission implementing act that has not yet been adopted, and national registers follow it rather than precede it.
In Polish law the term belongs to electrical equipment and batteries
The authorised representative is a genuine Polish institution under article 26 of the 2015 act on waste electrical and electronic equipment, and, since 18 August 2025, for batteries under the EU battery regulation. Providers selling authorised representation for Polish packaging are describing an institution national law does not currently contain.
It is also not a fiscal representative. That is a tax institution with different liability and a different appointment route, and it is not part of an extended-producer-responsibility mandate. We will not describe our role as either.
Three separate instruments, deliberately kept apart
For packaging into Poland the workable set is a written EU mandate under Article 45(3), an ordinary Polish power of attorney for filings before the marshal, and a contracted arrangement for operating the register account. Each has its own scope, its own evidence and its own termination effect.
A draft Polish packaging act would introduce a statutory authorised representative for foreign producers, but it has not entered into force and its timetable has already moved more than once. Nothing should be sold, priced or promised against an unadopted text.
Conclusion
Scope comes before a form. Connect the legal entity, product, sales channel and EPR stream to the rule that actually applies.
Evidence must remain traceable. Keep source data, versions, approvals, filings, receipts and every record issued by an external body.
Third-party decisions are never guaranteed. The marshal, the register, recovery organisations and marketplaces control their own procedures, timing and decisions.