The 2019 German Packaging Act

[1786davycrockett]

While I have read more information about the 2019 German Packaging Act, and how it will impact all international sales to Germany (including eBay), as the law is written it seems to primarily effect the primary distributors of pre-packaged items (please correct me if I am misinterpreting this law -- it is not entirely clear).

However, if an eBay seller is NOT a primary distributor, is it still necessary to provide all the information that has been requested?

And, if an eBay seller is selling items which do not seem to be applicable to the 2019 Packaging Act (such as old books and old magazines, which is what I sell), is it necessary to provide this information?

In addition, since I am just an individual seller (and NOT a huge business entity), the "tax id" which is required by this act would be my personal Social Security number, which I am quite hesitant to share with a foreign government.   And thus, according to the  eBay memo regarding the 2019 German Packaging Act:

"What happens if I don’t register by the July 1 deadline?  

eBay has a legal obligation to ensure that all our B2C sellers are compliant. If you do not take the necessary steps by the deadline, we will be legally required to restrict your selling privileges for the German market. "

Which is okay for me -- but I'm not sure how much this is going to impact other American eBay sellers, as the 2019 German Packaging Act seems to infer that eBay sellers will be financially responsible for additional recycling fees for packages sent to Germany.  Will eBay be billing individual sellers for these fees, or will Germany be billing the individual sellers?

Do any other eBay sellers have further clarifications regarding this Act, as the deadline is July 1.

Thanks, folks!

[nyccowgirl7]

Aha, that is super helpful, thank you!  I think maybe where I am getting mixed up is that for a single item, you can't specify "block country X" if you are selling via GSP?  Does that make sense?

Although now that I look at it carefully - you can block direct shipment to country X, Y, & Z, but then choose to override your list and ship to those countries if selling via GSP, but that doesn't necessarily mean those countries ARE blocked when selling via GSP. 

They don't do a good job of making things clear, do they??

[ms.rodriguez*]

Saabs are out of business and they are NOT a German car company.  Anyway,  I would not provide my SS # to any foreign country.  I guess many sellers will not sell to folks in Germany.

[showmecurrency4u]

i do not sell ouside the usa, so what happens if the person  evades my block and ebay directs me to ship to one of the fraud  centers.  when will ebay allow us to block bids from certain socialist states. some of  states  seem to be headed in the same direction.

[stephenmorgan]

---

@showmecurrency4u wrote:

i do not sell ouside the usa, so what happens if the person  evades my block and ebay directs me to ship to one of the fraud  centers.  when will ebay allow us to block bids from certain socialist states. some of  states  seem to be headed in the same direction.

---

What is a fraud center?

If you are talking about a Freight Forwarder that is not part of eBay then that is a good question. 

I would suspect that once it arrives at the Freight Forwarder your part is done.  Maybe the Freight Forwarder has an obligation to make sure item leaving their control meets the requirements of the country they are shipping to.

Could be that Commercial Freight Forwarders are not going to accept responsibility and will not allow items to be  sent thru them if they can not meet the requirements.  If this happens then they would likely deny forwarding services to those locations.

If you have a individual that will act as a Freight Forwarder on behalf of the buyer then I could see a very different outcome.

[paulhua3]

Seems to me the EU buyers should be paying whatever recycling fee there is since the buyers are causing the materials to be shipped into Germany.  Germany, and other EU countries, could simply charge the buyers an amount based on the weight of the package being delivered and dispense with all the red tape involved in this scheme they have set up. 

As it is, I'll be blocking Germany and others that implement this in the future.

[westshore2000]

I totally missed the deadline.  Now what?  It seemed like an arbitrary date with little time to absorb  the rules.  This has to be one of the most confusing topics that "requires" compliance and is somehow going to reduce waste in Germany.  The basic statement " The 2019 Packaging Act (VerpackG) requires business sellers to license the packaging for their products and register with the LUCID database when they sell items to customers in Germany. " is pretty self-explanatory.  The message that eBay announced on June 22, 2022 simply gives registration instructions and leaves out critical information.  I cannot find follow up messages/instructions.  By clicking on the Lizenzero link in the 6/22/2022 announcement, I discovered this link:

https://www.lizenzero.de/en/blog/lizenzero-is-ebay-s-solution-partner-for-the-packaging-act-amendmen...

Apparently, what is stated is if you sell to Germany,  you need to register.  Another link:

https://verpackungslizenz24.de/en/eu-packaging-licence/ allows you to select a EU country and see more implications.   

As many have questioned, how does this fit with the Global Shipping Program.  The program has been a real positive for international shipping.  What if I want to continue selling to Germany and eventually the EU. Theoretically,  the seller does not have the buyers actual address (yes, third party sites like Auctiva will give the actual delivery address).  The seller is required to ship to an eBay processing site.  Ebay states that it will not repackage the items being shipped through the Global Shipping Program, but clearly they put a new label on the package. Does anyone know what information is on the new label?  Who is listed as the merchant/seller? Me as the actual seller or eBay as the final shipper?  If, in fact it is eBay's name on the package, why would I need to register?  Also, my box or envelope may be recyclable but again, only eBay will know the final weight of the item and if it is still in compliance. I would also wonder if as eBay is the final shipper/importer when using the Global Shipping Program, do we use eBay's address as the address of record when registering?  Additionally, Germany had decided that absolute transparency is necessary, right down to your Name, Tax payer ID#, address and phone number.  Again, because the packages ship via the Global Shipping Program, why would I not register using eBay contact information?