How long does EPR registration take, and when does the clock start?

EPR registration takes as long as the authority or compliance scheme of each country takes to issue a number, and that differs by country and by stream. The clock starts the day Eldris has your complete documents and your signed power of attorney; Eldris usually submits to the authorities within 48 hours of payment and your product information. The pricing page shows an average time to register against every line, and averages are not guarantees. Under Regulation (EU) 2025/40, Article 44(4), a producer may not make packaging available in a country until it is registered there, which is why the clock matters.

What starts the clock

The clock starts when Eldris holds everything a filing needs: your company documents and a power of attorney signed for each country. Payment opens your portal, but the days only begin to count once the file is complete. A missing document stops the clock before it has started.

Six documents go into the portal after payment: your company certificate or register extract, a director's passport, any VAT certificates you hold, a signed power of attorney for each country, proof of your storefront and product photos. Most powers of attorney are signed online. Some countries add a step of their own, and that step is part of the clock too. Poland signs in ink: you upload a scan, post the original, and Polish stamp duty of 17 zł applies. Italy may need the power of attorney notarised, which Eldris confirms before you sign. Spain needs a Spanish tax number before a packaging registration can be filed at all, so the NIF comes first. France asks for a separate signed Citeo mandate for packaging. Each extra signature is a few days that a seller can save by reading the country notes in the quote before paying.

What Eldris does in the first days

Once your file is complete, Eldris usually submits to the authority and the scheme within 48 hours of your payment and product information. The representative, where a country requires one, is appointed under the power of attorney you signed. From then on the file is in the authority's queue.

Submission means several things at once, depending on the stream. For packaging it is the entry in the national register and the contract with a compliance scheme that takes your packaging quantities. For electrical equipment it is the producer registration with the national register, often with the scheme contract alongside. For batteries it is the register entry and the scheme membership for the chemistry you sell. Where a country bills the representative or a scheme membership separately, the line in your quote shows that fee at cost, and Eldris passes it on when the scheme or authority invoices it. Your portal shows which countries are submitted and which are still waiting on a document. Nothing is filed until the file is complete, because an incomplete filing is returned by the authority and the clock starts again.

Why one country takes a week and another a season

The spread on the pricing page comes from how each country issues numbers. A register that confirms online can take days; a register that checks documents by hand, issues identifiers in batches, or waits for a tax number first takes months. The stream matters as much as the country.

Three patterns explain most of the difference. First, the register itself: some national registers confirm a producer entry as soon as the file is accepted, others hold files for a manual review. Second, the dependencies: Spain packaging cannot be filed until the Spanish tax number has been issued, so the time to register without a NIF is far longer than with one, and the pricing page shows both. Third, the signature route: a power of attorney that must be signed in ink, notarised or apostilled adds postal and notary time before the filing can even begin, which is why the Polish, Italian and Spanish lines carry country notes. None of these steps is under Eldris's control once a file is submitted, which is why the figures are averages from recent registrations rather than promises. Read the average for each line you intend to buy on the pricing page before you plan a launch, and compare it with the country's own register on its marketplace verification calendar.

Can you sell while the registration is pending?

No. The law requires registration before you place packaging, electrical equipment or batteries on a country's market, and the marketplaces check the numbers. The one compliant route in the meantime is a buyer who acts as importer of record and takes on the obligation.

The duty is written into each stream's law. For packaging it is Regulation (EU) 2025/40, Article 44(4); for electrical equipment a distance seller is registered in the country it sells to under Directive 2012/19/EU, Article 16(1); for batteries it is Regulation (EU) 2023/1542, Article 55(2). A marketplace that verifies numbers for a country can suspend a listing until the number is there, and a seller who ships regardless carries the risk of that suspension and of a fine from the national regulator. Eldris does not advise shipping before a number is issued, and does not issue a provisional number of its own: a number comes from the authority or the scheme, and Eldris then issues your certificate. If your timetable cannot wait, the only compliant arrangement is for your customer to import the goods as the producer and hold the registration themselves.

Deadlines, chasing and what arrives at the end

A marketplace deadline is something to say before you pay, not after. Once a file is submitted, the authority sets the pace and Eldris can only chase it. When the number arrives, Eldris issues your certificate and both appear in your portal, market by market.

Tell Eldris about a deadline by replying to your quote or in the chat, with the market and the date. The answer compares the date with that line's average and, where the average is longer, says what the marketplace accepts meanwhile and whether a different order of countries helps. After submission the portal shows each country's state; chasing an authority is part of the service, but no authority moves faster for being asked twice. The registration numbers are issued by the country's authority or scheme to Eldris, which then issues the certificate for that registration; the numbers are what a marketplace asks for, and the certificate is what to give for a customs query. From that day the country's 12 months run, Eldris handles the declarations and the correspondence with the authorities, and a further country uses the details already on file. The steps are set out on the how it works page, and the question this guide answers sits with the others sellers ask on the questions page.

Frequently asked questions

Does the twelve-month term start at payment or at registration?

At registration. Each country's registration runs for 12 months from the date that country confirms it, and renews at the same price. Because countries confirm at different speeds, your renewal dates are staggered by country, not tied to the day you paid.

Does Eldris promise a date?

No. The time to register shown for each line on the pricing page is an average from recent registrations, counted from the day Eldris has your complete documents and signed power of attorney. The authority or scheme sets the pace once a file is submitted.

Where do I see the average for my country?

On the pricing page, against each line. Every country and stream shows its own average time to register, and the Germany, France and Spain pages repeat the figure for their streams. The site prints these from the same price list the calculator uses.

A marketplace has given me a deadline. What should I do?

Say so before you pay, by replying to your quote or in the chat. Eldris can then tell you whether the average for that market fits the date and, where it does not, what a marketplace accepts meanwhile. A deadline mentioned after payment cannot move the authority's timetable.

Does an existing registration elsewhere speed things up?

Not for a new country, because each authority runs its own register. It does avoid a duplicate: tell Eldris which countries you already hold before you pay, and the portal asks for those numbers country by country. A Spanish tax number you already hold removes the NIF step for Spain.

Can I add a country later without starting again?

Yes. Once you are registered, adding a country uses the business details already on file, so you do not repeat the onboarding. The new country has its own average time to register and its own twelve-month term from the day it is confirmed.