Resolve it at sampling, not at customs
Packaging is regulated, and the rules differ by market. We would rather settle the compliance question while a structure is still a drawing than when a container is sitting at a port.
Certifications and declarations
- FSC-certified paper and board on request, with chain-of-custody documentation
- Food-contact compliant materials and inks — EU 1935/2004 and FDA 21 CFR
- Third-party test reports from SGS, BV or Intertek
- Migration testing for food-contact and skin-contact applications
- Heavy metals and REACH statements for paper and board
Selling into the EU
The EU regulates packaging at both EU and member-state level, and the member-state layer is where most suppliers get caught out.
- EPR registration — Germany (LUCID), France and others require producers to register and pay fees based on material type and weight. This is the buyer’s obligation, but the packaging specification drives the fee, so it is worth designing for.
- Packaging and packaging waste rules — the direction of travel is strongly against multi-material, hard-to-recycle formats. Mono-material and paper-based structures are increasingly favoured, and recycled content targets are tightening.
- Food contact — Regulation (EC) 1935/2004 plus specific measures for plastics. Ask for the declaration of compliance for the exact material and ink combination.
Selling into the US
Food-contact applications fall under FDA 21 CFR. Where a material is not explicitly listed, a food-contact notification or an appropriate letter of guarantee from the supplier is needed. State-level extended producer responsibility laws are also spreading, so it is worth asking your distributor what applies in the states you sell into.
Selling into the GCC — Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Bahrain, Oman
Requirements are generally less prescriptive than the EU for packaging itself, and the practical priorities differ:
- Importers often want documentation that matches the commercial invoice exactly
- Arabic labelling may be required on the consumer-facing pack for certain categories
- Premium presentation carries more commercial weight than environmental certification
- Gulf buyers frequently work on WhatsApp and expect same-day answers
Export documentation
We handle the paperwork side of the shipment:
- Commercial invoice and packing list
- Certificate of origin where required
- HS code classification support
- Booking, consolidation and shipping documents
- Registration and export licence on file