Packaging Compliance: EPR, Toxics-in-Packaging & the Chasing-Arrows Rule
Packaging is the area sellers most often overlook entirely, and it now carries registration deadlines with real fees attached. It sits on top of the product itself — if you are selling filled bedding, read this alongside the bedding-licence & labeling guide and the material-compliance spec — but the rules below apply to almost anything you ship in a box or a poly bag.
Packaging compliance
1. Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR)
Seven states have enacted packaging EPR laws making the “producer” — which for an imported private-label product generally means the brand owner, or, where the brand owner has no U.S. presence, the importer — financially responsible for the packaging they put into the state. You register with a producer responsibility organisation (the Circular Action Alliance operates in most states), report tonnage by material, and pay fees.
Table 1 — Packaging EPR deadlines. These dates shift as each programme’s rules are finalised; confirm the current deadline for each state before relying on it.
| State | Registration | First report | Fees begin |
|---|---|---|---|
| Oregon | 31 March 2025 (passed) | 31 May 2026 | July 2025 |
| Colorado | 31 July 2025 (passed) | 31 May 2026 | January 2026 |
| California (SB 54) | 1 June 2026 | 31 May 2026 | 2027 |
| Minnesota | 1 July 2026 | 31 May 2026 | 1 February 2029 |
| Maryland | 31 May 2026 | 31 May 2026 | 1 July 2028 |
| Washington | 1 July 2026 | 31 May 2026 | 15 February 2030 |
| Maine | Programme rules still being finalised | TBD | Low-volume producer exemption available |
The trap: reporting obligations go live in states that have not yet charged anyone a fee. Registration is not optional just because the invoice has not arrived. Most programmes have small-producer exemptions — commonly framed around annual gross revenue or tonnage placed into the state — and a modest single-product Amazon seller may well fall under them, but the exemption usually still requires you to register and claim it. Check your specific numbers against each state’s threshold rather than assuming.
2. Toxics in Packaging
Around nineteen states have adopted the Toxics in Packaging Clearinghouse (TPCH) model law, which caps the sum of lead, cadmium, mercury and hexavalent chromium in packaging and packaging components at 100 ppm. Several states — Washington, Maine and Minnesota among them — have added PFAS to their packaging restrictions. You must be able to produce a certificate of compliance on request from a state agency. Get this certificate from your packaging supplier now; it costs nothing and takes weeks to obtain under pressure.
3. California SB 343 — the chasing-arrows symbol
From 4 October 2026, packaging that does not meet California’s recyclability criteria may not display the chasing-arrows symbol, including the version wrapped around a resin identification code. Industry groups have a First Amendment challenge pending, but plan for the restriction. Audit your polybag, header card and shipper: unless the material genuinely meets the criteria, remove the symbol. A bare resin-identification number without arrows remains permissible.
4. Practical packaging requirements for FBA
- Suffocation warning. Poly bags with an opening of 5 inches or more must carry a suffocation warning — an Amazon FBA requirement and a widely expected safety practice. It must be legible, and for bags 60 inches or larger (length + width) printed in a larger type size.
- Scannable barcode. Poly bags must be transparent enough for the FNSKU to be scannable, or the barcode must be on the outside.
- Compression / vacuum packing is normal for body pillows and needs a clear “allow 24–48 hours to fully expand” instruction — the single most effective way to prevent one-star “arrived flat” reviews. Unclear packaging is a returns cost, not just a compliance one.
- Opaque retail packaging. If the retail package is opaque, the fibre content, origin and identity information must appear on the package itself as well as on the sewn-in label.
- Own your barcodes. Buy UPCs from GS1 directly; resold codes are a common cause of listing suppression.
Disclaimer. This article is general information for sellers and importers, not legal advice, and the accuracy of the information here is not guaranteed. Packaging EPR is being implemented state by state and its registration, reporting and fee dates change frequently; SB 343 and Toxics-in-Packaging rules are also subject to amendment and litigation. Verify every deadline and threshold directly with the relevant state programme or producer responsibility organisation, and take qualified advice on your own volumes and exemptions, before you rely on anything here. OpenDD accepts no liability for reliance on this content.
Sources: Circular Action Alliance, state packaging-EPR statutes (Oregon, Colorado, California SB 54, Minnesota, Maryland, Washington, Maine), the Toxics in Packaging Clearinghouse model law, CalRecycle — SB 343 accurate recycling labels, and Amazon’s FBA packaging & barcode requirements. Companion guides: Bedding Licenses by State and Bedding Material Compliance.