The document will come into force on 1 October

The European Commission has adopted Implementing Regulation (EU) 2026/1963, which sets out the list of documentary evidence required to verify the country of smelting and casting (‘melt and pour’) of steel imported into the EU. The document, which was unanimously endorsed by EU Member States on 19 August, will enter into force on 1 October 2026.

The aim of the new rules is to improve product traceability and prevent trade restrictions imposed by the EU from being circumvented via third countries.

From 1 October, importers will be required to state the country of smelting and casting of the steel in their customs declarations, supporting this primarily with a mill test certificate specifying the melt number.

If such a certificate is missing or does not contain the necessary information, the customs authorities will provisionally accept other documents (invoices, delivery notes, contracts, specifications, and manufacturing or customs documents from the exporting country), provided that they identify the country of smelting and the smelting batch number.

A transitional period will apply during the first year: alternative documents may be submitted either on their own or as a supplement to an incomplete factory test certificate. However, from 1 October 2027, a factory test certificate will be mandatory in all cases.

The new requirements form part of a new mechanism for regulating trade in steel within the EU, which comes into force on 1 July 2026, replacing the previous safeguard measures. It provides for an annual duty-free tariff quota of 18.35 million tonnes, whilst imports exceeding the quota are subject to a 50% duty.

The traceability requirement applies to all exporting countries, including members of the European Economic Area. The data collected will enable the European Commission to assess, by 30 June 2028, whether a country’s smelting and casting activities should be a key criterion for granting access to tariff quotas.