Starting from October 1, 2026, the European Union will introduce new requirements for declaring and verifying the country of smelting and casting when importing steel.
For products subject to the regulations, the main confirmation will be the MTC factory test certificate, which must specify the country of melting, the country of casting and the melting number. It is this document that will be used to confirm the data when goods are imported into the EU.
According to the rules, importers will have to indicate in the customs declaration the country where the steel was smelted and first cast into solid form. This information must be confirmed by an MTC certificate with relevant information about the country and the melting number.
If the required data is missing from the certificate, the customs authorities will be able to accept additional documents containing the missing information. Among them are:
- invoices;
- delivery invoices;
- quality certificates;
- provisions in purchase orders and contracts;
- Long-term declarations of suppliers;
- cost and production reports;
- customs documents from the exporting country;
- commercial correspondence;
- product descriptions.
If the MTC certificate cannot be provided, alternative documents with data on the melting country, casting and melting number can be used as independent proof until September 30, 2027. After this date, such materials will be accepted only as additional confirmation to the MTC.
The Turkish Ministry of Commerce also notified about the new requirements, sending relevant information to the Union of Chambers of Commerce and Commodity Exchanges of Turkey (TOBB). The letter referred to by the Istanbul Chamber of Commerce states that the EU Commission Regulation 2026/1963 entered into force on September 1 and will be applied from October 1.
The document emphasizes that certificates of conformity for steel products imported into the EU must be valid and contain information about the country of smelting and casting, as well as the melting number. If such a certificate cannot be obtained, alternative documents with the required information can temporarily replace it during the one-year transition period.
The new documentation system is designed to enhance the traceability and transparency of steel supplies to the EU and reduce the risk of circumvention of trade measures.
At the same time, the countries of the European Economic Area, despite exemption from quotas and off-quota duties in accordance with EU legislation on steel products, will also have to comply with the requirements for tracking smelting and casting.