Defra defers enforcement of EPR reporting
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ShareDefra has announced that until 31 May 2024, no legal enforcement will be taken against producers who fail to report data for extended producer responsibility (EPR) for packaging.
The new guidance applies to England and Scotland – who issued a joint Regulatory Position Statement (RPS) today (5 September) – and follows the delay of the collection of EPR fees by 12 months to October 2025.
Despite the lack of enforcement, in a call with industry stakeholders, Defra stated that it is still a legal requirement as per the EPR data regulations to collect and report packaging data. The RPS also applies to producer compliance schemes submitting data on behalf of their members, as well as those submitting data directly to the regulators.
The Government said that the continued collection and reporting of data will allow it to provide the indicative costs that obligated producers need to plan effectively for their businesses under EPR.
Defra added: “The more data we have to work with the more accurate the illustrative base fees will be. We will share these first estimates by the end of 2023/early 2024.”
The current reporting dates for packaging data in England are 1 October 2023 and 1 April 2024. Data is required to extend back to 1 March 2023.
In Northern Ireland, the RPS does not apply and obligated producers are still being asked to use all reasonable endeavours to report packaging data. In Wales, the reporting of packaging data for obligated producers does not come into force for businesses until April 2024.
Last week (31 August), Defra released a page summarising all of its guidance for EPR for packaging.
