> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.jaffnamonitor.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # New E.U. Packaging Rules Now Apply to Sri Lankan Exports - URL: https://www.jaffnamonitor.com/new-e-u-packaging-rules-now-apply-to-sri-lankan-exports/ - Published: 2026-08-18T11:00:52.000Z - Updated: 2026-08-18T11:00:52.000Z - Author: Our Reporter - Tags: Economics, August 2026 **COLOMBO —** European rules governing packaging began to apply on 12 August, and they cover imports. Sri Lankan exporters of tea, spices, seafood and processed food must now be able to show that the pouches, cartons and wrappers they ship to Europe meet binding requirements on recyclability, recycled content, labelling and chemical safety. The Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation entered into force in February 2025 after years of negotiation in Brussels. It draws no distinction between packaging produced inside the European Union and packaging that arrives with imported goods. The rules reach beyond exporters. Local packaging manufacturers, printers, laminators and certification bodies form part of the same compliance chain, and European buyers are expected to begin asking them for documentation. Two provisions are likely to cause the most difficulty here. The first is a ban on per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, known as PFAS, in food-contact packaging. The chemicals are widely used to make paper and board resistant to grease and moisture. The ban applies from this month. The second is a requirement that tea bags and certain other packaging formats be industrially compostable from February 2028\. Tea remains among Sri Lanka's largest export earners, and the deadline leaves producers roughly eighteen months to identify alternative materials, test them and requalify with buyers. The regulation is built around five requirements: recyclability, recycled content, reuse, harmonised labelling and waste prevention. It also carries Extended Producer Responsibility obligations and traceability rules, which oblige companies to keep records showing where packaging materials came from and what they contain. ## **An untested readiness** How prepared local industry is remains unclear. A two-day seminar in Colombo on 13 and 14 July drew more than 100 people from exporting companies, packaging manufacturers, government institutions, trade associations and certification bodies. Several participants said they had not previously worked through the regulation in detail. “As the Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation begins to apply, early preparation will be essential to help businesses adapt smoothly, preserve access to the E.U. market, and strengthen their position in an increasingly sustainability-driven global economy,” said Johann Hesse, head of cooperation at the Delegation of the European Union to Sri Lanka. The seminar was organised under the CIRCULAR project, a European Union-funded programme implemented jointly by Expertise France, the Food and Agriculture Organization and the German development agency GIZ. Mahmoud Gaballah, who manages the project at Expertise France, said sustainable packaging had become a commercial requirement rather than an environmental preference. Sessions covered the implementation timeline, packaging redesign, material selection, supplier checks, certification and the technical files that European authorities and buyers may ask to see. Participants were asked to map their own product lines against the requirements. Companies that do not adapt face higher compliance costs, delays at the point of entry, and the loss of contracts to exporters in countries that started earlier. Nishan Perera, president of the Sri Lanka Institute of Packaging, said the technical detail had been hard for local industry to interpret on its own. “For Sri Lanka's export-driven food and packaging sectors, understanding these complex E.U. regulations is very important,” he said. He added that the seminar had helped the sector begin drawing up a roadmap. Participants left with a list of tasks: audit existing packaging, talk to suppliers, build documentation, and budget for new investment. What that investment will cost, and how far down the supply chain the cost will travel, was not addressed. The CIRCULAR project works on reducing food loss and waste and cutting single-use plastic. It falls under European development cooperation with Sri Lanka set out in the Multiannual Indicative Programme, which covers green economic recovery, governance and the rule of law.