{
 "name": "EU import compliance calendar",
 "description": "Dated milestones in EU import rules for GPSR, REACH, EPR, CBAM, EUDR and waste shipments. Every entry names the regulation it comes from and the page that explains it.",
 "url": "https://importrules.com/deadlines/",
 "publisher": "Import Rules",
 "licence": "Free to quote with attribution to importrules.com",
 "checked": "2026-09-03",
 "as_of": "2026-09-03",
 "count": 19,
 "deadlines": [
  {
   "date": "2024-12-13",
   "date_precision": "day",
   "date_text": "13 December 2024",
   "regime": "GPSR",
   "headline": "The General Product Safety Regulation becomes applicable",
   "what_changes": "Every non-food consumer product placed on the EU market needs a Responsible Person established in the EU and a technical file. No transition period was given for goods already in the channel.",
   "who_it_affects": "Anyone selling consumer goods to EU buyers, including from outside the EU.",
   "legal_source": "Regulation (EU) 2023/988 (GPSR), Article 16",
   "explained_at": "https://importrules.com/gpsr/",
   "status": "in force"
  },
  {
   "date": "2025-07-16",
   "date_precision": "day",
   "date_text": "16 July 2025",
   "regime": "Animal by-products",
   "headline": "The DOCOM model changes and record keeping goes digital",
   "what_changes": "The commercial document that travels with animal by-products was amended and record keeping moved into the electronic system. This is the document category that catches used cooking oil and category 3 material.",
   "who_it_affects": "Traders in animal by-products, including UCO and rendered fats.",
   "legal_source": "Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2025/1379 (OJ, 16 July 2025)",
   "explained_at": "https://importrules.com/waste-shipments/",
   "status": "in force"
  },
  {
   "date": "2025-08-18",
   "date_precision": "day",
   "date_text": "18 August 2025",
   "regime": "EPR",
   "headline": "The battery producer registration deadline has passed",
   "what_changes": "Batteries placed on the EU market needed producer registration by this date. It is already past, which matters because a seller who missed it is non-compliant now, not from some future date.",
   "who_it_affects": "Anyone selling batteries, including batteries built into a product.",
   "legal_source": "Regulation (EU) 2023/1542 (Batteries Regulation); national registers",
   "explained_at": "https://importrules.com/epr/",
   "status": "in force"
  },
  {
   "date": "2025-10-20",
   "date_precision": "day",
   "date_text": "20 October 2025",
   "regime": "CBAM",
   "headline": "The CBAM Omnibus takes effect: 50 tonnes becomes a full exemption",
   "what_changes": "The old EUR 150 per-shipment trigger was replaced by a mass-based de minimis. Under 50 tonnes of net imports per importer per calendar year there is no reporting duty, no authorisation and no certificates at all - a full exemption, not a declarant threshold.",
   "who_it_affects": "Importers of iron, steel, aluminium, cement, fertiliser, hydrogen and electricity.",
   "legal_source": "Regulation (EU) 2023/956 as amended by the CBAM Omnibus Regulation (adopted 8 October 2025, in force 20 October 2025)",
   "explained_at": "https://importrules.com/cbam/",
   "status": "in force"
  },
  {
   "date": "2025-11-05",
   "date_precision": "day",
   "date_text": "5 November 2025",
   "regime": "REACH",
   "headline": "ECHA registration fees rise by 19.5%",
   "what_changes": "Registration fees rose across every tonnage band. Quotations issued before this date understate the cost.",
   "who_it_affects": "Anyone registering a substance, or budgeting for one.",
   "legal_source": "ECHA fee regulation; ECHA fee tables",
   "explained_at": "https://importrules.com/reach/",
   "status": "in force"
  },
  {
   "date": "2026-01-01",
   "date_precision": "day",
   "date_text": "1 January 2026",
   "regime": "CBAM",
   "headline": "The definitive CBAM regime begins",
   "what_changes": "The transitional reporting period ended and the definitive regime started. Data for 2026 has to be collected during 2026 even though certificates are only bought, and paid for, in 2027.",
   "who_it_affects": "Importers over the 50-tonne exemption.",
   "legal_source": "Regulation (EU) 2023/956; Implementing Regulation (EU) 2025/486",
   "explained_at": "https://importrules.com/cbam/",
   "status": "in force"
  },
  {
   "date": "2026-03-31",
   "date_precision": "day",
   "date_text": "31 March 2026",
   "regime": "CBAM",
   "headline": "Last day to benefit from the transitional rule for authorised declarants",
   "what_changes": "Importers who had filed their authorisation application by this date could keep importing while the decision was pending. Filing later means waiting for the decision before importing covered goods.",
   "who_it_affects": "Importers who need authorised declarant status and had not yet applied.",
   "legal_source": "Regulation (EU) 2023/956; CBAM registry procedure",
   "explained_at": "https://importrules.com/cbam/",
   "status": "in force"
  },
  {
   "date": "2026-05-21",
   "date_precision": "day",
   "date_text": "21 May 2026",
   "regime": "Waste shipments",
   "headline": "DIWASS becomes compulsory for notified shipments",
   "what_changes": "The electronic procedure applies to notified shipments. Green-list shipments did not change on this date - a company that assumed they did has no legal problem, but one that assumes the paper route survives into 2027 does.",
   "who_it_affects": "Anyone shipping notifiable waste into, out of or within the EU.",
   "legal_source": "Regulation (EU) 2024/1157, Article 27(1)(b)",
   "explained_at": "https://importrules.com/waste-shipments/",
   "status": "in force"
  },
  {
   "date": "2026-08-12",
   "date_precision": "day",
   "date_text": "12 August 2026",
   "regime": "PPWR / EPR",
   "headline": "An authorised representative for packaging is required in every member state",
   "what_changes": "A producer without an establishment in a member state must appoint an authorised representative for packaging in that state. It is not one EU-wide appointment: it is one per member state. Sell into eight, appoint eight.",
   "who_it_affects": "Sellers who place packaged goods on a market where they are not established.",
   "legal_source": "Regulation (EU) 2025/40 (PPWR); national packaging schemes",
   "explained_at": "https://importrules.com/epr/",
   "status": "in force"
  },
  {
   "date": "2026-11-09",
   "date_precision": "day",
   "date_text": "9 November 2026",
   "regime": "Waste shipments",
   "headline": "Black mass becomes hazardous waste under code 19 14 02",
   "what_changes": "The intermediate fraction from treatment of waste lithium batteries gets its own entry in the European List of Waste. As hazardous waste it may not be exported for recovery to non-OECD countries at all. The effect is a redirection of volume, not a paperwork change.",
   "who_it_affects": "Anyone trading black mass or battery recycling intermediates.",
   "legal_source": "Amended European List of Waste, entry 19 14 02",
   "explained_at": "https://importrules.com/waste-shipments/",
   "status": "upcoming"
  },
  {
   "date": "2026-11-21",
   "date_precision": "day",
   "date_text": "21 November 2026",
   "regime": "Waste shipments",
   "headline": "Exports of plastic waste to non-OECD countries are banned",
   "what_changes": "A ban, not a licensing regime. Routes that depend on a non-OECD offtaker for plastic waste end on this date.",
   "who_it_affects": "Exporters of plastic waste outside the OECD.",
   "legal_source": "Regulation (EU) 2024/1157, Articles 39 and 40",
   "explained_at": "https://importrules.com/waste-shipments/",
   "status": "upcoming"
  },
  {
   "date": "2026-12-30",
   "date_precision": "day",
   "date_text": "30 December 2026",
   "regime": "EUDR",
   "headline": "The Deforestation Regulation applies to large and medium operators",
   "what_changes": "Seven commodities and their derived products must be proven deforestation-free before they can enter the EU. The original dates (December 2024, June 2025) were postponed twice.",
   "who_it_affects": "Operators placing cattle, cocoa, coffee, palm oil, rubber, soy or wood - or products derived from them - on the EU market.",
   "legal_source": "Regulation (EU) 2023/1115 as amended by the December 2025 postponement",
   "explained_at": "https://importrules.com/deforestation/",
   "status": "upcoming"
  },
  {
   "date": "2026-12-31",
   "date_precision": "day",
   "date_text": "31 December 2026",
   "regime": "Waste shipments",
   "headline": "Last day Annex VII may be completed on paper",
   "what_changes": "The information document for lower-risk waste shipments may be completed on paper up to and including this date.",
   "who_it_affects": "Anyone moving green-list waste inside the EU.",
   "legal_source": "Regulation (EU) 2024/1157",
   "explained_at": "https://importrules.com/waste-shipments/",
   "status": "upcoming"
  },
  {
   "date": "2027-01-01",
   "date_precision": "day",
   "date_text": "1 January 2027",
   "regime": "Waste shipments",
   "headline": "Annex VII goes digital, with two working days' notice",
   "what_changes": "The Annex VII information moves into DIWASS and has to be filed at least two working days before the shipment starts. Only the actual quantity, the carrier and the container number may follow later. That is a planning change, not an administrative one.",
   "who_it_affects": "Anyone moving green-list waste inside the EU.",
   "legal_source": "Regulation (EU) 2024/1157, Article 27",
   "explained_at": "https://importrules.com/waste-shipments/",
   "status": "upcoming"
  },
  {
   "date": "2027-02-01",
   "date_precision": "month",
   "date_text": "February 2027",
   "regime": "CBAM",
   "headline": "Sales of CBAM certificates begin",
   "what_changes": "Sales start for 2026 emissions. For 2026 the price follows the quarterly average of EU allowance auction prices; from 2027 the weekly average. One certificate covers one tonne of embedded CO2.",
   "who_it_affects": "Importers over the 50-tonne exemption.",
   "legal_source": "Regulation (EU) 2023/956; Implementing Regulation (EU) 2025/486",
   "explained_at": "https://importrules.com/cbam/",
   "status": "upcoming"
  },
  {
   "date": "2027-02-05",
   "date_precision": "day",
   "date_text": "5 February 2027",
   "regime": "REACH",
   "headline": "SME status is verified in advance",
   "what_changes": "An SME claim has to be substantiated in advance rather than checked afterwards. A claim that does not hold means the full fee plus an administrative charge.",
   "who_it_affects": "Registrants claiming reduced SME fees.",
   "legal_source": "ECHA fee regulation; ECHA SME verification procedure",
   "explained_at": "https://importrules.com/reach/",
   "status": "upcoming"
  },
  {
   "date": "2027-05-21",
   "date_precision": "day",
   "date_text": "21 May 2027",
   "regime": "Waste shipments",
   "headline": "An audit duty applies to the receiving facility outside the EU",
   "what_changes": "The export rules take effect. The facility receiving your waste outside the EU has to be audited and shown to manage it broadly in line with EU standards. The audit must be no more than two years old, renewed every two years, with ad-hoc audits possible in between. It is no longer enough that the receiving country permits the import.",
   "who_it_affects": "Exporters of waste outside the EU, especially those with a single offtaker.",
   "legal_source": "Regulation (EU) 2024/1157, export chapter",
   "explained_at": "https://importrules.com/waste-shipments/",
   "status": "upcoming"
  },
  {
   "date": "2027-06-30",
   "date_precision": "day",
   "date_text": "30 June 2027",
   "regime": "EUDR",
   "headline": "The Deforestation Regulation applies to micro and small enterprises too",
   "what_changes": "The same duties apply, six months after the larger operators.",
   "who_it_affects": "Micro and small enterprises placing the seven commodities on the EU market.",
   "legal_source": "Regulation (EU) 2023/1115 as amended by the December 2025 postponement",
   "explained_at": "https://importrules.com/deforestation/",
   "status": "upcoming"
  },
  {
   "date": "2027-09-30",
   "date_precision": "day",
   "date_text": "30 September 2027",
   "regime": "CBAM",
   "headline": "The annual declaration for 2026 is due",
   "what_changes": "The annual CBAM declaration for 2026 imports is due. Obligation and payment are a year apart: collect in 2026, declare and pay in 2027.",
   "who_it_affects": "Importers over the 50-tonne exemption.",
   "legal_source": "Regulation (EU) 2023/956",
   "explained_at": "https://importrules.com/cbam/",
   "status": "upcoming"
  }
 ]
}