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Luregod, an Estonian online fishing tackle retailer serving anglers across Europe, says new EU packaging rules are creating a costly and complex barrier for small businesses selling internationally.
“The whole focus is on making packaging greener and improving recycling, which is a good aim,” Olari Tonison (below), Chief Fishing Officer at Luregod, told Angling International. “But for a small business, the practical side is a big logistical problem.
“Even if you only send three packages a month directly to consumers in another EU country, the current rules require a local representative for packaging recycling obligations. Depending on the country and scheme, you may also need to forecast packaging volumes and pay advance or minimum fees.”
Tonison added that the demands differ widely between member states. “Germany alone requires reporting across several packaging-material categories. Selling across the EU can mean arranging representation in each destination market, alongside recycling fees and representative charges. It creates a huge amount of administration and disrupts cash flow.”
He believes the system favours larger companies with specialist compliance teams and deeper budgets. “It can cost thousands of euros to become compliant. If you are selling fewer than 100 products a year into a market, it simply may not be worthwhile.”
The EU’s Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation generally started applying in August, although national packaging registration and recycling obligations existed before then. Tonison said some businesses have stopped selling into Europe altogether, while others are continuing without compliance, hoping enforcement will be limited.
Relief from the representative requirement is now under negotiation. In October, the European Parliament backed a temporary suspension for EU-based micro and small businesses, while the Council proposed relief for producers placing less than one tonne of packaging annually in each destination member state. No suspension has yet become law.
While negotiations continue, the European Commission has asked member states to apply the representative requirement pragmatically and refrain from sanctions over that obligation. Other national packaging obligations remain.
“There is a real danger that fixed compliance costs will push smaller businesses out of some markets and favour the big players,” Tonison said. “We do our best to offer anglers across Europe a wide selection of lures, rods, reels and accessories from Westin, Savage Gear, Rapala, Abu Garcia and other popular brands. But serving a country becomes difficult to justify when the compliance costs outweigh what we earn from a small number of orders.”
EFFTA warns new PPWR regulations mark ‘fundamental shift’ for tackle industry
Fishing-tackle retailers selling into the European Union are being urged to treat the new Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR) as a business-wide issue, rather than a simple product-compliance exercise.
The European Fishing Tackle Trade Association (EFTTA) – the body that represents the trade across the region – warns that the regulation marks a fundamental shift and that responsibility now reaches beyond the finished pack and into the supply chain that designed, sourced, imported and placed it on the market.
Jan Kappel, EFFTA’s Public Affairs Officer, told Angling International: “The PPWR has applied broadly since August this year and covers the full lifecycle of packaging, from design through to collection and waste management. It applies to all packaging placed on the EU market, whether empty or filled, manufactured inside or outside the EU, and irrespective of material.”
For tackle retailers, particularly those importing goods, operating online or selling own-branded products in more than one EU country, the practical impact is substantial.
Added Kappel (pictured): “PPWR is not simplifying the landscape of regulations, but reorganising it. It is shifting compliance from the final product to the entire ecosystem behind it. That means businesses must review both their internal compliance processes and their relationships with manufacturers, importers, distributors and packaging suppliers.
“Increasingly, compliance will depend on being able to identify substances across complex supply chains, secure reliable structured data from suppliers, and ensure packaging decisions are consistent with other EU rules, including REACH, CLP, POPs, PFAS and the Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation.
“The timetable is long, but the work cannot wait. By 2030, packaging will need to meet recyclability requirements at scale, while certain single-use plastic packaging formats will be banned. Minimum recycled-content requirements for plastic packaging will also begin to apply from 2030 and tighten further towards 2040.
“For a tackle business, this could mean reassessing packaging around lures, terminal tackle, rods, reels, apparel and mail-order deliveries. Retailers will need clear information on the composition, recyclability and recycled content of packaging used by their suppliers, as well as the ability to meet national producer-responsibility obligations in every country where packaging is placed on the market.”
Kappel added that this is especially important for online sellers. “A business based in one member state may trigger obligations in several others simply by shipping packaged goods directly to consumers across borders. Each country has its own Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) scheme, registration arrangements and fees.
EFTTA recently addressed the subject in a well-attended webinar, Extended Producer Responsibility – Managing EPR across Europe – and provided participants and members with its country-by-country overview, EPR for Packaging® — Country-by-country information and resources.
The financial impact will vary considerably explained Kappel. “Costs may arise through packaging redesign, data collection, reporting, scheme registration, EPR fees and specialist advice. Fees and operating requirements differ from one country to another, so no single figure can usefully describe the burden on SMEs.”
Kappel stressed that the legislation itself is now agreed. However, where members face serious and disproportionate threats from implementation, the association can raise concerns with the European Commission, national authorities and the European Parliament, potentially alongside other affected industries, in pursuit of exemptions or relief measures.
For small businesses unsure where to begin, the association’s advice is straightforward: read the rules early enough to understand where your company sits in the system, then ask precise questions of the right national schemes, advisers and suppliers.
The European Commission’s PPWR webpage, its August 2026 Frequently Asked Questions guidance and the regulation itself should be the starting points. Businesses should establish which countries they sell into, identify their packaging responsibilities in each one and begin collecting the supplier information needed to meet those obligations.
For some companies, engaging a specialist consultancy may be the quickest route to compliance – although it comes at a cost. EFTTA also notes that it is a trade association, not a law firm, and encourages members to use its sector knowledge alongside professional legal or compliance advice where required.
The key lesson is that waiting until 2030 is not an option. For the tackle trade, PPWR preparation starts with knowing every link in the packaging chain – and ensuring each one can provide the information needed to keep products moving legally across Europe.
Further information is available from the European Commission PPWR page, the Commission’s PPWR FAQs and the full regulation.
