Directive 94/62/EC restricts certain substances in product packaging. As such, importers must pay attention to packaging compliance too. Here are an overview of packaging materials and waste requirements:
Heavy Metals Restrictions
Directive 94/62/EC sets limit to certain heavy metals such as lead, mercury, and cadmium present in packaging. Third-party testing is the only way to verify whether your packaging material meets the requirements.
Many testing companies such as QIMA and SGS, provide packaging materials testing. You can also request a free quotation for more details.
Additional Packaging Information
1. Packaging material should be built to simplify material recycling, reuse, and collection purposes.
2. Compliance marks such as CE marking should be also printed on the product packaging.
Amazon Europe Compliance Requirements
Amazon has a strict policy on product compliance. Kitchen appliances must comply with all mandatory directives such as RED and EMC to get approval from Amazon. Amazon also has a history of requiring voluntary standards compliance from third-party sellers.
We suggest that you should read through the kitchen appliances requirements in the Amazon Seller Central before importing to the European Union.
How does Amazon check product compliance?
Amazon may request you to send all relevant documents including certificates, test reports, and even invoices for compliance checking. Note that they can request these documents at any time, therefore, you should prepare all relevant documents before importing kitchen appliances in the European Union.
What can happen if we sell non-compliant kitchen appliances on Amazon?
Amazon can remove your products from their website’s listings for non-compliant reasons. They can even suspend your Amazon account. From our experiences, Amazon usually focuses on specific SKUs, when checking for compliance.