When you import goods, the Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) duty lands on you. The factory abroad holds no registration in your market and cannot report for you.
Below we rank the best EPR software for importers, seven tools in all. Repax is our pick for most of them, and each of the other six wins a case it genuinely owns.
Why importing makes you the producer
One word decides everything here, and that word is producer.
Under EU packaging law the producer is whoever first makes packaging or packaged goods available in a country. That is normally the importer rather than the factory that made the box.
Below is how the duty moves as a shipment travels from a supplier abroad to the person who finally opens it.
The producer is whoever puts the goods on the market first
Regulation (EU) 2025/40, the Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR), spells out who counts. A producer is any manufacturer, importer or distributor that makes packaging or packaged products available on a member state's territory for the first time.
An importer, in the same regulation, is a company established in the EU that places packaging from a country outside the EU on the market. So bringing goods in and selling them is the exact act that creates the duty.
Placing on the market is worth reading literally as well. It means the first time the goods become available, not the moment they clear customs.
Your supplier is not a fallback. They have no registration in your country, which is why nothing can be filed in their name.
Bulk shipments you break open count too
The definition catches one more case that importers walk into without noticing. Anyone who unpacks packaged products without being the end user is also a producer.
Buy a pallet of packaged goods, strip the outer packaging off and pass the goods on, and the packaging you removed is yours to report. You never sold that outer layer to anyone, and it is still on your account.
Every country is its own registration
Registration is per country, not per company. You register in the national register of every member state where you first place goods, or where you unpack without being the end user.
The timing is strict. You are not allowed to make goods available in a country before you, or a representative acting for you, are registered there. Reporting then runs on an annual cycle, with the data for a full calendar year due by 1 June of the year after.
Selling across a border changes the shape again. Ship straight to buyers in another EU country and you are the producer in that country as well.
In that case you appoint an authorised representative for EPR there under a written mandate. Our guide to registering for EPR in Europe walks through what each register asks for.
The paperwork you inherit from your supplier
National EPR is about tonnage and fees. PPWR adds a second job that is pure documentation, and importers carry a named share of it.
What to check before the goods go on sale
The regulation gives importers a short list of things to confirm about their supplier's work first. Four checks, and they all sit before the first sale rather than after it.
- The conformity assessment was carried out by the manufacturer.
- The Annex VII technical documentation exists for the packaging.
- The packaging is labelled the way the regulation requires.
- The required documents travel with it rather than being promised later.
If you have reason to believe the packaging does not comply, you cannot place it on the market until it does. That is worded as your call to make, not your supplier's.
What you have to keep and for how long
After the goods go on sale you are the one holding the file. A copy of the EU Declaration of Conformity has to stay available to market surveillance authorities for five years for single-use packaging and ten years for reusable packaging.
If a national authority asks for it with a stated reason, you have ten days to hand over the information and documentation, in a language that authority can work with.
Your own identity goes on the packaging as well. That means your name, your registered trade name or trademark, and a postal address.
Where there is genuinely no room for it, the same details go on the digital data carrier or on a document accompanying the product.
When you stop being the importer and become the manufacturer
One case flips your role completely. Sell the goods under your own name or trademark, or modify packaging that is already on the market in a way that could affect compliance, and you are treated as the manufacturer instead of the importer.
That is a real change rather than a technicality. You then draw up the Declaration of Conformity yourself instead of filing your supplier's, and the technical file behind it becomes your responsibility.
There is a carve-out for the smallest businesses. Where the own-brand importer is a micro-enterprise and the supplier who sold them the packaging sits inside the EU, the supplier is treated as the manufacturer.
Five things an importer needs from a tool
An importer is not a smaller version of a manufacturer. You are missing the one thing every register wants, which is a description of packaging you did not design, so these are the five things we ranked on.
| What we looked for | Why it matters to an importer |
|---|---|
| Turns supplier answers into report-ready data | Material and component weight has to come out of a factory abroad and land in a structure a register accepts. That handover is the whole job. |
| Covers every country you place goods in | Registration is per country. A tool that answers one market leaves you starting from scratch for the next one. |
| Handles the streams one shipment triggers | A pallet of electronics is packaging, electronics and often batteries at once, filed with different bodies. |
| Has an answer on authorised representatives | Selling direct to buyers in another EU country needs one, and the tools differ on whether they provide it, arrange it or leave it to you. |
| Produces the conformity file, not just the tonnage | The Declaration of Conformity, the Annex VII file and the retention period are a separate job from the annual report. |
Three groups of tool dropped out on those five. The UK-first schemes, Valpak, Ecosurety and Ecoveritas, are built around a different rulebook, and AlgoREP is excellent but only answers France.
Sphera and PCX Solutions are enterprise suites sold with consultants, which we cover on the enterprise EPR list instead.
Recyda assesses packaging and generates a Declaration of Conformity, but it does not register or report per market for you.
The best EPR software for importers ranked
We ranked these seven by overall fit for a company that brings goods in and sells them, rather than by raw feature count.
What moved a tool up was how well it turns supplier answers into numbers a register will accept, how many of your markets it covers, whether it carries the streams a single shipment triggers, and whether it does anything about the conformity file.
Each entry says what the tool is, who it suits, and the one thing to check before you commit.
1. Repax for building packaging data you never had
Repax starts from the gap an importer actually has, which is that nobody in your building knows what the packaging is made of.
You describe each product once, component by component, with its materials, its weights and the supplier it came from. From that single record Repax produces whatever each market asks for, so a new country is a new output rather than a new data-collection project.
That structure is why the supplier side gets easier over time. Ask a factory for the weight of a carton once, and every future report for every market reuses the answer.
Presets are the part importers tend to notice second. Each market has its own required fields, and applying a market's bundle tells you exactly which gaps in your supplier data are still open before a deadline.
It is also our own product, so we lead with it, though we are straight about where each rival wins below. Two of the three parts are live today, with a third on the way.
- Core is the product-data and reporting engine behind every market and stream.
- Declare produces the signed EU Declaration of Conformity for packaging, which is the piece an own-brand importer inherits.
- Comply registers you and files with the schemes for you, with an authorised representative where one is required.
- Best for: importers and distributors who want one description of their packaging that answers every market, and who need the Declaration of Conformity as well as the annual report.
- What it does for an importer: turns supplier answers into per-material weights, calculates the fees, produces each register's report format, and generates the EU DoC from the same records through Declare.
- Where the packaging data comes from: you and your suppliers, held as a structured product record you own rather than a spreadsheet per country.
- Markets and streams: one data layer that answers each market's own register and format rather than a fixed country list; packaging, batteries, electronics and textiles.
- Pricing: a free tier at €0 a month, paid plans from €29 a month, enterprise on request (as of August 2026).
- Watch-out: Repax hands you the data, the reports and the DoC, and you press send. Core does not register you, submit on your behalf or touch VAT and customs. Registering and filing are Comply, a separate membership priced per country and waste stream.
2. Lorax EPI for entering a long list of markets at once
Lorax EPI is the specialist to look at when your import list is long and getting longer.
Their own site claims over 200 schemes available, and schemes rather than countries is the right unit, because one country often has several. They also cover more than packaging, with WEEE, batteries and textiles on the list.
The service layer is what earns them second place for importers. They will assess which obligations apply to you, screen your data, and carry out the registrations with the schemes, national authorities and authorised representatives you need.
One boundary is worth knowing before you scope the work. Plastic packaging taxes sit outside what they handle, because those are tax registrations rather than EPR.
- Best for: importers and distributors entering many markets who want the registration groundwork done by specialists.
- What it does for an importer: obligation assessment, data screening, registrations across schemes and authorities, fee modelling and regulatory updates, with the reporting software underneath.
- Where the packaging data comes from: you supply it, and their data screening tells you where it is too thin to file on.
- Markets and streams: global, with over 200 schemes named; packaging, WEEE, batteries and textiles.
- Pricing: sales-led, no public price (as of August 2026).
- Watch-out: nothing is publicly priced, so you cannot size the cost without a sales conversation, and a UK Plastic Packaging Tax obligation needs its own tool because they do not cover tax registrations.
3. Staxxer for importers who owe VAT in the same countries
Staxxer is the Dutch option built for the cross-border seller, and their pitch is that EPR is only half of an importer's admin.
The other half is VAT, so they bundle registration, returns and EPR into one service. They arrange the registrations and file on your behalf, which makes this a service you hand work to rather than software you operate.
Their pricing is unusually plain for a done-for-you provider. German packaging EPR is listed at 199 to register plus 159 a year, and Dutch packaging EPR at 199 plus 299 a year, with the same structure across nine EU countries.
- Best for: importers and marketplace sellers who owe VAT in the same countries where they owe EPR and want one provider for both.
- What it does for an importer: registers you with the schemes and submits your EPR reports, with VAT registration, returns and bookkeeping alongside.
- Where the packaging data comes from: you send it to them, pulled from marketplace and shop integrations for Amazon, Shopify and Bol.com.
- Markets and streams: EPR priced for nine EU countries; packaging, electronics and batteries.
- Pricing: public and per country, for example 199 to register plus 299 a year for Dutch packaging, with VAT priced separately (as of August 2026).
- Watch-out: you hand the workflow over rather than own it, so your packaging data stays wherever it lives today. Their own site names packaging, electronics and batteries only, and there is no self-serve Declaration of Conformity.
4. ecosistant for many small markets on a tight budget
ecosistant is the value pick once you import into a long tail of countries and your volumes in each stay modest.
They cover up to around 30 European countries and more streams than most tools of their size, including packaging under PPWR, electronics, batteries, textiles and furniture. Their own site speaks directly to companies selling cross-border rather than to large manufacturers.
Pricing starts at €24.90 per country, which is hard to argue with when you have picked up duties in eight markets and none of them are large.
- Best for: smaller importers with duties in several countries who want the cheapest credible price per market.
- What it does for an importer: works out your obligations per country through a guided setup, then handles the registration and reporting for the streams you trigger.
- Where the packaging data comes from: you enter it, with an optional account manager to help you get it right.
- Markets and streams: up to around 30 European countries; packaging, electronics, batteries, textiles and furniture.
- Pricing: public, from €24.90 per country (as of August 2026).
- Watch-out: only the entry price is published, and the deeper help arrives as a paid service on top rather than in the base price.
5. Lizenzero for handing European packaging to a representative
Lizenzero, part of Interzero, is worth its place for one reason that matters specifically to importers who sell across borders.
Their European service will act as your authorised representative under a mandate where a country requires one, on top of choosing the local schemes, dealing with them and reporting your volumes.
It comes in two parts, and the difference catches people out. The German shop sells you a packaging contract and hands you a volume file, while the European service across 31 countries is the done-for-you side.
Pricing is public, at 299 per country as a service fee plus the schemes' own volume-based fees, with discounts of 5%, 10% and 15% at three, five and eight or more countries.
- Best for: importers who would rather hand European packaging compliance over, especially where an authorised representative is required.
- What it does for an importer: selects and talks to the local schemes, acts as authorised representative under mandate where needed, reports your volumes and watches for rule changes.
- Where the packaging data comes from: you declare your volumes to them, after a free obligation check tells you which countries are in scope.
- Markets and streams: 31 European countries; packaging only.
- Pricing: public. Germany from 39 a year, Europe at 299 per country plus scheme fees (as of August 2026).
- Watch-out: packaging is the whole of it under this brand, so imported electronics, batteries or textiles need a separate arrangement, and the German shop does not make your LUCID registration for you.
6. EPR Insights for the smallest cross-border importers
EPR Insights is the cheapest credible way in, and it says openly that it is built for cross-border sellers.
They list 39 countries on paper with 14 or more active markets, and they carry packaging, WEEE and batteries through one workflow rather than three separate tools.
The commercial terms suit a first-time importer better than anything else here, at 15 dollars a month to start with a seven-day free trial through Shopify.
- Best for: small importers and ecommerce sellers taking on their first few markets who want to start cheaply.
- What it does for an importer: tracks what you owe across its country list and turns order data into the reports each market wants, in one dashboard.
- Where the packaging data comes from: your ecommerce order data plus the product details you add.
- Markets and streams: 39 countries listed with 14 or more active; packaging, WEEE and batteries.
- Pricing: public, from 15 dollars a month with a seven-day free trial (as of August 2026).
- Watch-out: the gap between countries listed and markets genuinely active is worth checking against your own list, and the product is shaped around ecommerce orders rather than container shipments.
7. Assent for suppliers who will not answer your emails
Assent is here for a narrow but painful case, which is a supplier who ignores every request for packaging data.
Chasing suppliers is the centre of their product rather than a side feature. Their supplier engagement engine follows up in multiple languages until the packaging attributes come back, then turns materials, weights and recycled content into report-ready outputs with fee estimates.
The catch for a European importer is where their EPR offer points. Their packaging page is built around North American law, naming California, Oregon, Colorado and Canada's federal registry, so the supplier-chasing strength arrives without European scheme coverage as the headline.
- Best for: importers whose real bottleneck is getting data out of overseas suppliers, particularly those with North American obligations too.
- What it does for an importer: runs the supplier follow-up campaign for you, collects packaging attributes at part level, and produces reporting outputs with fee estimation.
- Where the packaging data comes from: your suppliers, chased by their engagement engine rather than by your team.
- Markets and streams: global product compliance with the EPR packaging module anchored on North America; packaging.
- Pricing: demo-only, no public price (as of August 2026).
- Watch-out: it is an enterprise platform bought for supply chain compliance as a whole, so an importer who only needs European packaging reporting is buying a great deal more than that.
Which tool fits how you import
Importers are not one buyer, and the right pick follows the shape of your import rather than your size. Here are the six patterns we see most.
- One market, one or two suppliers. Start with Repax on the free tier, or EPR Insights if you want the lowest monthly cost while you learn what the register wants.
- Several EU markets out of one warehouse. Repax if you want one product record to answer all of them, Lorax EPI if you want the registrations carried out for you.
- You buy in bulk and break it open. Repax, because the packaging you strip off has to be weighed by material and that only comes from a structured record of what arrived.
- You ship direct to consumers across borders. Lizenzero, since an authorised representative is required in that case and they will act as one, or Staxxer if VAT lands in the same countries.
- Your own brand goes on imported goods. Repax, because you become the manufacturer and have to produce the Declaration of Conformity rather than file your supplier's.
- A long tail of small markets. ecosistant, at €24.90 per country, unless one of those markets is large enough to justify a broader platform.
Whichever way you go, the wider EPR software comparison covers the tools that are not importer-shaped.
There is also a small-business list if company size matters more to you than the import route.
A side-by-side recap of all seven tools
Here are the seven in one view, with the column importers care about most, which is where the packaging data is expected to come from. Prices are as of August 2026.
| Tool | Best-fit importer | Where the data comes from | Markets and streams | Pricing |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Repax | Wants one record that answers every market | You and your suppliers, structured and owned by you | Every market from one record; packaging, batteries, electronics, textiles, EU DoC | Free, then €29/mo |
| Lorax EPI | Entering many markets at once | You supply it, they screen it | Global, 200-plus schemes; packaging, WEEE, batteries, textiles | Sales-led |
| Staxxer | Owes VAT in the same countries | Marketplace and shop integrations | Nine EU countries; packaging, electronics, batteries | 199 plus 299 a year, per country |
| ecosistant | A long tail of small markets | You enter it, with optional help | Around 30 European countries; five streams | From €24.90 per country |
| Lizenzero | Wants it handled, needs a representative | You declare volumes to them | 31 European countries; packaging only | 299 per country plus scheme fees |
| EPR Insights | First few markets, lowest cost | Your ecommerce order data | 39 listed, 14-plus active; packaging, WEEE, batteries | From $15/mo |
| Assent | Suppliers who will not respond | Their engine chases your suppliers | Global, EPR packaging anchored on North America | Demo-only |
Frequently asked questions about EPR software for importers
Short answers to what importers ask most before they buy anything.
Who is responsible for EPR when you import goods?
You are, in almost every case. The producer under EU packaging rules is whoever first makes packaging or packaged goods available in a country, and when goods come in from outside the EU that is the importer.
Your supplier abroad holds no registration in your market, so there is nobody else the report could come from. The same applies if you unpack packaged goods without being the end user.
Do importers have to register for EPR in every country they sell in?
Yes. Registration sits in a national register per member state, and you need one in every country where you first place goods or unpack them without being the end user.
You are also not allowed to start selling in a country before that registration exists. Where you ship directly to buyers in another EU country, you appoint an authorised representative for EPR there under a written mandate.
What is the best EPR software for importers?
Repax, for an importer that wants one description of its packaging to answer every market, and our pick on the wider EPR software list too.
You build each product record once from supplier answers, and Repax turns it into per-material weights, fees, each register's format and the EU Declaration of Conformity.
If you would rather hand the filing over, Staxxer registers and files for you and covers VAT in the same countries. If your problem is a supplier who will not answer, Assent is built around chasing them.
Is there free EPR software for importers?
Yes, on a small scale. Repax has a free tier at €0 a month with paid plans from €29 a month, and EPR Insights starts at 15 dollars a month with a seven-day free trial.
Any software price is separate from what you pay the schemes. The scheme fees are charged on the weight and material of what you actually place on the market, so software is usually the smaller number.
Does an importer need an authorised representative?
It depends on where you sell rather than what you import. If you are established in an EU country and only place goods on that market, you register there yourself and no representative is needed.
If you make goods available for the first time in another member state directly to end users, you appoint an authorised representative for EPR in that country by written mandate. Lizenzero will act as one, and Lorax EPI arranges them as part of registration.
Do importers have to draw up an EU Declaration of Conformity?
Normally no, but you have to hold one. As an importer you check that your supplier carried out the conformity assessment and drew up the Annex VII technical documentation.
After that you keep a copy of the Declaration of Conformity available for five years for single-use packaging and ten years for reusable packaging.
It changes if the goods carry your own brand or you modify the packaging. Then you count as the manufacturer and draw up the Declaration of Conformity yourself.
What packaging data does an importer need from a supplier?
Enough to describe the packaging component by component. That means what each part is made of, what it weighs, whether it is primary, secondary or transport packaging, and any recycled content you plan to claim.
Weight by material is the part that drives everything, because scheme fees are charged per kilogram per material. Getting it once and holding it in a structured record is what stops the same email going out before every deadline.
How much does EPR software for importers cost?
Anywhere from nothing to a negotiated enterprise contract. The published prices among these seven start with a free Repax tier and 15 dollars a month at EPR Insights.
Above that sit €24.90 per country at ecosistant, 299 per country at Lizenzero, and Staxxer at 199 to register plus 159 to 299 a year depending on the country.
Lorax EPI and Assent are sold through their sales teams with no public price. Whichever you pick, budget the scheme fees separately, and our guide to EPR reporting covers what the annual cycle actually involves.
