Retrospective deductions pursuant to section 7 (3) VerpackG (Packaging Act) are permitted if the packaging that has participated with a system cannot be handed over to final consumers due to damage or unsaleability and the producer has taken the packaging back and transferred it for recovery as per section 16 (5) VerpackG. In such cases, the return and recovery must be clearly documented. If these conditions are met and the system participation fees have been refunded, the packaging is no longer considered to have been placed on the market.

However, if the packaging has already been handed over to a final consumer – for example through mail order – then no refund is possible.

If retailers or redistributors decide on their own to export the packaging, without the packaging's producer having planned for the packaging to be exported, this may also qualify for a retrospective exemption from the system participation requirement pursuant to section 12 (1) VerpackG if i) strict legal criteria are met and ii) it can be evidenced that the packaging that has participated with a system was never handed over to final consumers in Germany, which is where the Verpackungsgesetz applies. 

The export must always be clearly documented by the initial distributor or producer. Even if all conditions are met, there is no legal right to a refund from the system for a system participation fee that has already been paid.

For details, refer to the long-version FAQ which sets out the Zentrale Stelle Verpackungsregister's (Central Agency Packaging Register – ZSVR) current interpretation of the law. The ZSVR requires that this legal interpretation be used as the basis for declarations of completeness submitted for the 2020 reference year onwards.