EU trade and customs developments in weeks 15-18

This recording delivers a concise briefing on EU customs and trade compliance developments from weeks 15 to 18, covering the second week of April through the first week of May. It is designed for trade and customs professionals who need to stay abreast of regulatory changes affecting tariff classification, preferential origin, sanctions exposure, and safeguard measures — and to identify the actions and opportunities each update may trigger in their operations.

Topics covered:

• Simplification of EU laws: the European Commission's plan to address legal complexity in how EU laws are made, applied, and enforced.
• EU-Mercosur trade agreement: entry into interim application on 1 May, with implications for goods in transit and in customs warehousing, and an update on the current state of play including tariff quotas.
• New Generalised Scheme of Preferences (GSP) regulation: applicable from 1 January 2027 — including permanent Everything But Arms (EBA) access for least developed countries, GSP Plus reapplication requirements, an expanded list of 32 international conventions, a new automatic rice safeguard, and notable product reclassifications including polyethylene terephthalate (PET).
• International sanctions: week-by-week overview including the 20th EU sanctions package against Russia, the Myanmar sanctions extension, the EU Sanctions Helpdesk's new compliance resource, and the extension of Moldova restrictive measures.
• Steel safeguards: the provisional deal replacing the expiring framework from 1 July 2026, including the new tariff rate quota system, a 47% volume reduction versus 2024, 50% out-of-quota duties, the "melt-and-pour" origin principle, and the phase-out of Russian steel.
• Rebar classification: new Commission Implementing Regulation introducing tariff codes to address the misclassification of reinforcing bars under safeguard quotas.
• Anti-dumping and countervailing duties: summary of measures across products including softwood plywood, continuous filament glass fibre, and terephthalic acid, affecting traders sourcing from Brazil, Thailand, South Korea, Mexico, and China.
• Duty suspensions: opportunities for importers to reduce costs where EU production is insufficient, and the right of EU producers to object.
• CJEU judgments: rulings on anti-dumping circumvention, classification of dental filling capsules as "goods put up in sets", and the classification of a cider-intended beverage.
• Union Customs Code (UCC) reform: new guidance on customs-business cooperation in tackling illicit trade, including reporting, data sharing, and internal whistleblowing mechanisms.

For a broader overview of the topic, please watch the full recording. The slides are available in the Resources section.

Please note that this summary was generated using AI, based on the recording and available slides.