One of our UK clients asked:
"Should we pay for the PCNs or should our customer in the EU handle it?"
The answer depends not just on budgets, but on two bigger questions:
- Who wants to keep control?
- Who is comfortable disclosing the composition?
Let’s unpack that.
If you’re the manufacturer and want to keep full control of the formulation — meaning you don’t want to share your composition details with your customer — then you’ll likely want to initiate and pay for the PCN service yourself. That way, you can:
- Use a voluntary PCN through an EU-based partner
- Protect your intellectual property
- Avoid disclosing formulation to third parties
Yes, it might cost a bit more. But you stay in charge.
On the other hand, if your customer has an EU entity and you’re comfortable sharing the formulation, they can do the PCN themselves. That’s often cheaper and faster — but means handing over sensitive product data.
So it’s not really about who pays. It’s about how much control you want, and how much transparency you’re willing to allow.
We’ve worked with clients on both sides of the equation. Some prefer to own the process. Others are happy to let their distributor handle it.
If you're facing this decision, let's talk. We’ll help you find the model that fits your business best.
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