CINOA Responds to European Commission Consultation on Packaging and Packaging Waste
CINOA has submitted feedback to the European Commission’s consultation on national registers of producers under the Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR), highlighting the disproportionate administrative and financial burden that the proposed requirements could place on micro and small businesses in the professional art and antiques trade.
While supporting the Regulation’s environmental objectives, CINOA calls for a more proportionate approach that reflects the limited quantities and specialised nature of packaging used in the sector. Its submission advocates for de minimis exemptions, simplified cross-border registration, greater clarity on temporary movements of packaging and appropriate treatment of bespoke packaging used to protect fragile and unique objects.
Read CINOA’s full submission below.
Feedback – Packaging and Packaging Waste
CINOA represents art and antique dealers, galleries, auction houses, antiquarian booksellers, numismatic dealers and fairs, predominantly micro and small enterprises.
The FUNDAMENTAL PROBLEM is that PPWR risks imposing the same fixed registration burden on a business placing a handful of packages on a national market as on one placing very large quantities. This is disproportionate and risks driving Europe’s micro and small businesses out of cross-border markets. Where packaging quantities are negligible, compliance obligations can make occasional transactions economically unviable, while larger operators can absorb these obligations and strengthen their market position. The regulatory burden should therefore reflect the quantity and nature of packaging placed on the market, not simply the existence of a cross-border transaction.
REGISTRATION FRAMEWORK MUST REFLECT THE QUANTITIES & SPECIFIC NATURE OF PACKAGING USED. In the art trade, cross-border transactions are common, but packaging volumes for the majority of operators are extremely low: often only a handful of bespoke packages per business and per Member State, produced on request for unique and fragile objects.
DE MINIMIS EXEMPTION: Art-trade packaging differs fundamentally from standardised consumer packaging produced at scale and may sometimes be retained for reuse. While simplified reporting for producers handling less than 10 tonnes of packaging is welcome, it does not resolve the registration and EPR burden. National systems are fragmented, with information on registration, EPR and reporting requirements often limited, inconsistent and unavailable in all Member State languages. This creates a disproportionate compliance burden for micro and small businesses operating across borders.
CINOA urges the Commission to introduce a de minimis exemption from registration and EPR obligations for micro and small businesses placing very small quantities of packaging on a Member State’s market. If a full exemption is not possible, obligations should be suspended until registration, reporting and EPR requirements are harmonised and simplified across member states, with an EU one-stop-shop allowing information to be submitted once and reused across member states.
Art dealers transport works and bespoke packaging temporarily across borders for international fairs and exhibitions, returning them afterwards. Such temporary movements should not be treated as placing packaging on the host Member State’s market when substantial amounts of the packaging are not supplied there and are returned with the goods.
AUTHORISED REPRESENTATIVES & CROSS-BORDER TRADE: Authorised representative requirements can impose significant costs on micro and small businesses making only occasional cross-border sales, which are disproportionate where packaging quantities are negligible.
CINOA welcomes proposals to suspend Article 45(3). The proposals should include micro-businesses established outside the EU making only very limited sales into the EU. Without a proportionate approach, compliance costs risk discouraging cross-border trade, reducing consumer choice and disadvantaging EU businesses that depend on such trade.
SUFFICIENT TIME & GUIDANCE: CINOA urges the Commission to ensure sufficient transition time under Article 44 and provide clear, accessible guidance before registration and reporting obligations apply. The revised PPWR FAQs, were published only shortly before application despite similar requirements under the previous Directive. Businesses cannot reasonably comply with complex, country-by-country rules without the necessary information and systems in place.
BESPOKE PACKAGING & EMPTY-SPACE REQUIREMENTS: Article 24 should recognise that unique, irregular and fragile art and antiques may require protective voids and internal supports. Larger packaging is not necessarily excessive; reducing protective space could increase damage, repair, repackaging and transport, generating more waste rather than less.