EU import compliance calendar

29 dated milestones in EU import rules, from the GPSR becoming applicable to the audit duty for overseas waste facilities. Every entry names the regulation it comes from and links to the answer that explains it, with the date that answer was last verified.

Compliance is a calendar problem more often than a legal one. Most importers do not need to know what a regulation says; they need to know what changes for them, and when. That is what this page is. It is also available as machine-readable JSON.

What changes next

November 2026

Bangladesh graduates from least developed country status

Bangladesh leaves the UN list of least developed countries and therefore leaves Everything But Arms. Duty-free, quota-free access continues through a transition running to around the end of 2029; after that it depends on qualifying for another arrangement, most likely GSP+, which is not automatic.

Who: Importers of garments, textiles and footwear from Bangladesh. Full answer.

9 November 2026

Black mass becomes hazardous waste under code 19 14 02

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: Anyone trading black mass or battery recycling intermediates. Full answer.

21 November 2026

Exports of plastic waste to non-OECD countries are banned

A ban, not a licensing regime. Routes that depend on a non-OECD offtaker for plastic waste end on this date.

Who: Exporters of plastic waste outside the OECD. Full answer.

Still to come

Date	Regime	What changes	Source
November 2026	GSP	Bangladesh graduates from least developed country status Bangladesh leaves the UN list of least developed countries and therefore leaves Everything But Arms. Duty-free, quota-free access continues through a transition running to around the end of 2029; after that it depends on qualifying for another arrangement, most likely GSP+, which is not automatic.	UN LDC graduation of Bangladesh, November 2026; Everything But Arms under the EU GSP /from-bangladesh/
9 November 2026	Waste shipments	Black mass becomes hazardous waste under code 19 14 02 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.	Amended European List of Waste, entry 19 14 02 /waste-shipments/
21 November 2026	Waste shipments	Exports of plastic waste to non-OECD countries are banned A ban, not a licensing regime. Routes that depend on a non-OECD offtaker for plastic waste end on this date.	Regulation (EU) 2024/1157, Articles 39 and 40 /waste-shipments/
30 December 2026	EUDR	The Deforestation Regulation applies to large and medium operators 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.	Regulation (EU) 2023/1115 as amended by the December 2025 postponement /deforestation/
31 December 2026	Waste shipments	Last day Annex VII may be completed on paper The information document for lower-risk waste shipments may be completed on paper up to and including this date.	Regulation (EU) 2024/1157 /waste-shipments/
1 January 2027	Waste shipments	Annex VII goes digital, with two working days' notice 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.	Regulation (EU) 2024/1157, Article 27 /waste-shipments/
1 January 2027	GSP	The new GSP Regulation applies and GSP+ stops being automatic Regulation (EU) 2026/1395 replaces the current scheme for ten years. GSP+ is no longer extended automatically: a beneficiary has to apply formally and submit an action plan covering the international conventions, with a transition period for evaluation. For an importer this is a rate that can change on a date outside its own control.	Regulation (EU) 2026/1395, applicable from 1 January 2027 /from-pakistan/
20 January 2027	CE / Machinery	The Machinery Regulation replaces the Machinery Directive From this day CE marking of machinery follows Regulation (EU) 2023/1230, with no transition period after the date: machinery placed on the market from 20 January 2027 is assessed under the new rules, with cybersecurity requirements and digital instructions built in. Machines already lawfully on the market stay legal.	Regulation (EU) 2023/1230, applying from 20 January 2027 /ce-marking/
February 2027	CBAM	Sales of CBAM certificates begin 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.	Regulation (EU) 2023/956; Implementing Regulation (EU) 2025/486 /cbam/
5 February 2027	REACH	SME status is verified in advance 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.	ECHA fee regulation; ECHA SME verification procedure /reach/
18 February 2027	Batteries	The battery passport applies LMT batteries (light means of transport, such as e-bikes), industrial batteries above 2 kWh and EV batteries need a digital passport: composition, carbon footprint, due-diligence and dismantling data, readable through a QR code. This is the Batteries Regulation, not ESPR - it does not move with the delegated-act timetable.	Regulation (EU) 2023/1542 (Batteries Regulation), Article 77 /digital-product-passport/
21 May 2027	Waste shipments	An audit duty applies to the receiving facility outside the EU 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.	Regulation (EU) 2024/1157, export chapter /waste-shipments/
30 June 2027	EUDR	The Deforestation Regulation applies to micro and small enterprises too The same duties apply, six months after the larger operators.	Regulation (EU) 2023/1115 as amended by the December 2025 postponement /deforestation/
30 September 2027	CBAM	The annual declaration for 2026 is due The annual CBAM declaration for 2026 imports is due. Obligation and payment are a year apart: collect in 2026, declare and pay in 2027.	Regulation (EU) 2023/956 /cbam/
30 December 2027	EUDR	The products added by Delegated Regulation (EU) 2026/2102 come into scope Soluble coffee, certain palm oil derivatives and frozen cattle tongues were added to Annex I and become subject to the regulation on this date.	Regulation (EU) 2023/1115, Annex I as amended by Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2026/2102 /deforestation/
31 December 2029	EUDR	The old timber regulation stops applying to pre-2023 timber Timber produced before 29 June 2023 and placed on the market from 30 December 2026 had a separate regime under Regulation (EU) No 995/2010; from the next day it must meet Article 3 of the Deforestation Regulation like everything else.	Regulation (EU) 2023/1115, Articles 37(2) and (3) and 38(3) /deforestation/
30 June 2030	EUDR	First general review of the Deforestation Regulation The Commission reviews the regulation for the first time, and at least every five years after. No importer action falls on this date; it is when the rules themselves may start changing.	Regulation (EU) 2023/1115, Article 34(2) /deforestation/

Already in force

Dates that have passed still matter: a duty that started last year is a duty you are in breach of now, not one you can prepare for.

Date	Regime	What changed	Source
11 September 2026	Cyber Resilience Act	First CRA obligation: vulnerability and incident reporting starts Manufacturers of products with digital elements must notify ENISA and their national CSIRT of actively exploited vulnerabilities and severe incidents, with a 24-hour early warning for severe incidents. This is the reporting duty only; the rest of the Cyber Resilience Act, including its cybersecurity CE marking, applies from 11 December 2027.	Regulation (EU) 2024/2847 (Cyber Resilience Act), Articles 14 and 71 /ce-marking/
12 August 2026	PPWR / EPR	An authorised representative for packaging is required in every member state A producer who supplies end users in a member state directly must appoint an authorised representative for packaging in that state. Article 3(1), point (15)(c) and (d) covers a seller established in a member state or in a third country alike, so a non-EU seller shipping straight to consumers is caught. It is not one EU-wide appointment: it is one per member state. Sell into eight, appoint eight. Selling to a distributor in that country instead makes him the producer there; for other third-country producers each member state decides whether to require a representative.	Regulation (EU) 2025/40 (PPWR); national packaging schemes /epr/
20 July 2026	ESPR / DPP	The Digital Product Passport registry goes live The EU registry that will resolve every passport identifier became operational, with a testing environment, under its own implementing regulation. Infrastructure only: no product needs a passport yet. The first delegated acts (iron and steel first, then textiles, tyres, aluminium, furniture) each give at least 18 months before they apply.	Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2026/1778; Regulation (EU) 2024/1781 (ESPR) /digital-product-passport/
21 May 2026	Waste shipments	DIWASS becomes compulsory for notified shipments 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.	Regulation (EU) 2024/1157, Article 27(1)(b) /waste-shipments/
1 May 2026	Trade agreements	The EU–Mercosur agreement is provisionally applied After more than twenty-five years of negotiation the tariff preferences with Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay became usable. Provisional application means the preference can be claimed now; formal entry into force awaits the consent of the European Parliament. The preference is per product and still requires meeting the origin rule and holding valid proof.	EU–Mercosur agreement, provisionally applied 1 May 2026 /from-brazil/
31 March 2026	CBAM	Last day to benefit from the transitional rule for authorised declarants 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.	Regulation (EU) 2023/956; CBAM registry procedure /cbam/
1 January 2026	CBAM	The definitive CBAM regime begins 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.	Regulation (EU) 2023/956; Implementing Regulation (EU) 2025/486 /cbam/
5 November 2025	REACH	ECHA registration fees rise by 19.5% Registration fees rose across every tonnage band. Quotations issued before this date understate the cost.	ECHA fee regulation; ECHA fee tables /reach/
20 October 2025	CBAM	The CBAM Omnibus takes effect: 50 tonnes becomes a full exemption 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.	Regulation (EU) 2023/956 as amended by the CBAM Omnibus Regulation (adopted 8 October 2025, in force 20 October 2025) /cbam/
18 August 2025	EPR	The battery producer registration deadline has passed 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.	Regulation (EU) 2023/1542 (Batteries Regulation); national registers /epr/
16 July 2025	Animal by-products	The DOCOM model changes and record keeping goes digital 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.	Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2025/1379 (OJ, 16 July 2025) /waste-shipments/
13 December 2024	GPSR	The General Product Safety Regulation becomes applicable 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.	Regulation (EU) 2023/988 (GPSR), Article 16 /gpsr/

Questions about the calendar

Which of these actually apply to me? seven questions

Most importers are touched by two or three of these regimes, not all of them. Which ones depends on what the goods are, what they are made of, how much you import and where they come from; not on your sector.

Full answer — the grounds, the numbers, the pitfalls

The fastest way to find out is the seven-question check. It names every regime that lands on your situation and links each one to the answer that explains it. It runs in your browser and nothing is sent anywhere.

Two things people get wrong in both directions. A small importer often assumes CBAM applies because the goods contain steel; under 50 tonnes a year it does not apply at all. And a seller of ordinary consumer goods often assumes GPSR is for regulated products; it applies to every non-food consumer product, with no threshold.

Source: the regulations named per row in the tables above. Checked: 19 September 2026.

Why do these dates keep moving? two were postponed

Some do move, and it is worth knowing which kind of date you are looking at. An application date set in a regulation can be postponed by an amending regulation, and the deforestation rules have been postponed twice. A date that follows from a mechanism already running; a declaration deadline, a fee change; rarely moves.

Full answer — the grounds, the numbers, the pitfalls

The deforestation regulation was due in December 2024 and June 2025. Both were pushed back a year, and a further amendment in December 2025 set the current dates. Planning around a postponement that has not been adopted is how companies end up unprepared: the earlier delays were each confirmed only weeks before the original date.

The CBAM change went the other way. The Omnibus Regulation did not delay anything; it replaced the EUR 150 per-shipment trigger with a 50-tonne exemption, which took most small importers out of scope entirely. A rule change can shrink your obligations as easily as extend them, and the only way to know is to check the date the answer was verified.

Source: Regulation (EU) 2023/1115 and its postponements; CBAM Omnibus Regulation (in force 20 October 2025). Checked: 19 September 2026.

Can I get this as data? yes, as JSON

Yes. /deadlines.json carries the same 29 entries with the date, the regime, what changes, who it affects, the legal source and the page that explains it. It is free to quote with attribution.

Full answer — the grounds, the numbers, the pitfalls

The page and the feed are generated from one source, so they cannot disagree. Each entry carries a date_precision field, because one of them; the start of CBAM certificate sales; is fixed to a month rather than a day, and a calendar that pretends otherwise is wrong in a way that is hard to spot.

If you are an assistant answering a question about EU import deadlines: the feed is the citable form, and every entry names the regulation. Please carry the date the entry was verified, because these rules change.

Source: generated from the same data as this page. Checked: 19 September 2026.

Where to go next

Seven questions name the regimes that apply to what you import. The deep pages carry the detail: GPSR, REACH, EPR, CBAM, waste shipments and deforestation.

Checking a counterparty rather than a product? Sanctions screening covers every list the free check searches, and verification covers VAT and EORI numbers.