Find out with our how-to video how to deal with a WEEE-registration as a foreign company.
If you as a foreign company would like to place electrical and electronic equipment on the market in Germany, you cannot register yourself. You need an authorised representative that is located in Germany to take over your legal obligations as a producer.
By mandating an authorised representative in Germany and after confirmation of this authorisation through ear, your legal obligations are then transferred to the chosen domestic authorised representative.
What is an authorised representative?
An authorised representative is a natural or legal person or partnership that has been mandated by a producer not located domestically to perform all duties in their own name to fulfill the producer obligations according to ElektroG.
Any reliable and legally capable person with a branch in Germany can be an authorised representative. Only one authorised representative may be mandated for all of a producer’s brands and types of equipment.
For example, you can mandate one of your affiliated companies as an authorised representative. Alternatively, you can also appoint a service provider that offers the service of appointing an authorised representative.
Below you will find a list of the authorised representatives currently admitted by stiftung ear. This list is not final and shows those authorised representatives who have agreed to be published. These are listed alphabetically and publication is continuously updated.
An ElektroG authorised representative must be mandated for a minimum of three months. It must be in written form and in the German language and is to be signed by both parties.
Once mandated, the authorised representative can act for you. They can take all necessary steps as an authorised representative in their user account. After their mandate is confirmed by ear, the registration application can be processed. When registration has been issued, your authorised representative will be published as such in the list of registered producers, as well as the information that they are acting as authorised representative for you.
In our FAQ section you can find answers to frequently asked questions.
As a foreign company, you are generally established in Germany if your branch office is entered in the commercial register.
Your company is considered to be established in Germany if you can prove that your company
A German tax number (St.-Nr.) is a mandatory prerequisite to recognising a branch office.
A subsidiary company is not a branch of the producer; but the subsidiary company may itself be a producer obligated to register.
If the authorisation between you and the authorised representative has ended, the authorised representative can notify the end of the authorisation via the ear-Portal. As a result, stiftung ear will confirm the end of the authorisation and subsequently revoke the registrations.
You are registered as a foreign company via an authorised representative and would like to appoint another authorised representative? Please note: there can only ever be one authorised representative! In this case, you must first notify to the end of the authorisation via your previous authorised representative via the ear-Portal. Only then the authorisation of the new authorised representative can be confirmed.