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1. The producer, in the case of individual fulfilment of extended producer responsibility obligations, or the producer responsibility organisation entrusted with carrying out those obligations, in the case of collective fulfilment of extended producer responsibility obligations, shall apply for an authorisation on fulfilment of extended producer responsibility from the competent authority.

2. When adopting measures laying down the administrative and procedural rules referred to in Article 40(2), Member States shall establish the requirements and details of the authorisation procedure. Those requirements and details may differ for individual and collective fulfilment of the extended producer responsibility obligations. Member States shall also establish the modalities for verifying compliance, including the information to be provided by producers or producer responsibility organisations to that end. The authorisation procedure shall include requirements on the verification of the arrangements put in place to ensure compliance with the requirements laid down in paragraph 3 of this Article, and timeframes for that verification, which shall not exceed 18 weeks from the submission of a complete application dossier. That verification shall be carried out by a competent authority or an independent expert who shall issue a verification report on its result. The independent expert shall be independent of the competent authority and of the producer responsibility organisations or the producers authorised for individual fulfilment.

3. The measures to be established by Member States in accordance with paragraph 2 shall include measures ensuring that:

(a) the requirements laid down in Article 8a(3), points (a) to (d), of Directive 2008/98/EC are complied with;

(b) the measures put in place or paid for by the producer or producer responsibility organisation are sufficient to allow for the return and waste management of all packaging waste in accordance with Article 48(1) and (5) and Article 50, free of charge for consumers, with a frequency proportionate to the area and volume of packaging waste covered with regard to the quantity and types of packaging, including packaging of packaged products, made available for the first time on the territory of a Member State by that producer or producers on whose behalf the producer responsibility organisation acts, or packaging unpacked by such producer or producers without being end users;

(c) the necessary arrangements, including preliminary arrangements, to that end are in place with distributors, public authorities or third parties carrying out waste management on their behalf;

(d) the necessary sorting and recycling capacity is available to ensure that packaging waste collected is subsequently subject to preliminary treatment and high-quality recycling;

(e) the requirement laid down in paragraph 6 of this Article is complied with.

4. The producer or the producer responsibility organisation shall notify the competent authority without undue delay of any changes to the information contained in the application for an authorisation, of any changes that concern the terms of the authorisation, or of the permanent cessation of operations. On the basis of some or all of such notified changes, the competent authority may decide to amend the authorisation.

5. The competent authority may decide to revoke the authorisation, in particular if the producer or producer responsibility organisation no longer fulfils the requirements on the organisation of the treatment of packaging waste or fails to fulfil other extended producer responsibility obligations under the schemes established in accordance with Articles 8 and 8a of Directive 2008/98/EC or under this Section, such as obligations to report to the competent authority, or obligations to notify any changes to the terms of the authorisation or if the producer has permanently ceased operations.

6. The producer, in the case of individual fulfilment of extended producer responsibility obligations, or the producer responsibility organisation entrusted with carrying out those obligations, in the case of collective fulfilment of extended producer responsibility obligations, shall provide an adequate guarantee intended to cover the costs related to waste management operations owed by the producer or the producer responsibility organisation, in the event of non-compliance with the extended producer responsibility obligations, including in the permanent cessation of its operations, or insolvency. Member States may specify additional requirements for the guarantee. The guarantee may take the form of a public fund that is financed by producers’ fees and for which a Member State is jointly and severally liable.