On 17 June 2026, the European Commission’s proposal for a new trade defence regime for steel imports (COM(2025)726) was adopted as Regulation (EU) 2026/1384 (“Steel Regulation“) and entered into force on 25 June 2026, succeeding the safeguard measures that had been in place since January 2019. One particularly novel element, the “melt and pour” transparency requirement, has now been given practical shape, with the Commission adopting the Implementing Regulation (EU) 2026/1963 (“Implementing Regulation“) on 28 August 2026, setting out the evidence importers must provide to prove the country of “melt and pour”. This Implementing Regulation applies from 1 October 2026.
A permanent measure:
It is worth situating the melt and pour requirements within the broader regime, because the Steel Regulation is not merely a continuation of the measures it replaces. The 2019 safeguard was a temporary instrument, introduced in response to an emergency surge of imports and was extended twice before expiring on 30 June 2026. The Steel Regulation, by contrast, delivers on the EU Steel and Metals Action Plan of March 2025 and is a permanent, structural commercial policy instrument, to address the long-term effects of global overcapacity on the Union market.
The core characteristics of this new instrument, which we covered in our October 2025 alert, remain broadly as proposed, in particular: substantially reduced tariff-free import volumes, and a doubling of the out-of-quota duty to 50% ad valorem. In terms of timeline, following the entry into force of the Steel Regulation, the application of the tariff-rate quota (“TRQ“) system and the 50% out-of-quota duty have applied from 1 July 2026. The melt and pour evidentiary obligation will then apply from 1 October 2026, while melt and pour data will begin to feed into the country allocation of quotas from 1 October 2027. The melt and pour requirement should therefore be read against this phased implementation of the new regime.
The country of “melt and pour”:
By way of reminder, the country of “melt and pour” is the location where raw steel or iron is first produced in liquid form in a furnace and then cast into its initial solid state, a concept aimed at tracing steel back to its true point of production, rather than merely its country of export, in order to prevent circumvention of the measures.
The significance of this data point is best understood as a deliberate, three-stage trajectory. In its first phase, from 1 October 2026, melt and pour operates purely as a transparency and traceability obligation: importers must identify and evidence the country of melt and pour, but that information does not condition access to the quotas, which continue to be governed by the non-preferential origin of the goods. In its second phase, from 1 October 2027, the country of melt and pour becomes one of the criteria the Commission takes into account when distributing quotas among supplying countries. Finally, in a possible third phase, the Steel Regulation leaves the door open for melt and pour to become the actual basis on which imports qualify for a quota at all, the Commission being required to assess, and potentially to propose legislation to that effect, in due course.
Key elements of Implementing Regulation 2026/1963:
The evidentiary framework put in place can be summarised under three key pillars:
- Mill Test Certificates (“MTC”) as primary form of evidence. Importers are expected to provide an MTC identifying both the country of “melt and pour” and the heat number of the imported steel at the time of import.
- A defined set of alternative documents can plug the gaps. Where an MTC is silent on either the country of “melt and pour” or the heat number, customs authorities may accept other (limited) forms of evidence to complete the picture, for instance: invoices, delivery notes, quality certificates, purchase orders or contracts or long-term supplier declarations, provided they allow to establish both required data points.
- A transitional year allows for more flexibility. Between 1 October 2026 and 30 September 2027, these alternative documents may also stand on their own, without an MTC, as long as they establish both required data points. From 1 October 2027 onwards, however, an MTC becomes compulsory, and the other documents will only be accepted as a supplement to it.
Customs authorities retain the ability to verify whatever evidence is submitted, and importers should be aware that an import lacking adequate proof of the country of “melt and pour” is liable to be rejected outright.
Ongoing consultations regarding product scope:
Importantly, the reach of the Steel Regulation is not fixed. The Commission has launched a targeted stakeholder consultation on the first review of the product scope, which is open until 30 September 2026. The review examines whether a number of additional product groups, identified by CN code, should be brought within the scope of the regime, namely: tubes, pipes and hollow profiles of cast iron; non-alloy and other alloy wire; stainless wire; and non-alloy and other alloy forged bars. Based on the responses received, the Commission is due to finalise its assessment by 31 December 2026 and may, where warranted, propose an extension of scope.
For any business whose imports could fall within these categories, this consultation is the moment to make its position known before the scope is potentially widened, and, if the scope is extended, the melt and pour and TRQ obligations described above would follow. Potentially affected businesses should assess their exposure and, where appropriate, consider participating in the consultation before it closes, our Trade & Customs team are well placed to support this process.
What this means for affected businesses:
The melt and pour concept does not exist in a vacuum. It closely mirrors the origin-tracing obligation that steel importers will already be familiar with under the EU’s restrictive measures on Russian iron and steel, where MTCs (supplemented as needed by other documentation) have been used to evidence the origin of steel inputs. Given the substantial overlap in product coverage, businesses that have already built compliance processes for these sanctions requirements, sourcing and retaining MTCs, should be well placed to build on them here, rather than starting from scratch.
More generally, given the compliance and supply chain implications of this new evidentiary regime, we would encourage affected businesses to take stock of their current documentation practices as soon as possible, mapping the melt and pour origin of their steel products, confirming that suppliers can provide MTCs stating both the country of melt and pour and the heat number, and using the one-year transitional window to close any gaps before an MTC becomes mandatory.
It is also worth keeping an eye on how this data feeds into the broader framework over time, as the Commission’s use of melt and pour information is expected to evolve from a transparency tool into a quota allocation criterion and, potentially, a condition of quota eligibility.
We will continue to monitor developments under the Steel Regulation, including the ongoing product scope consultation and the forthcoming implementing act on the country-specific distribution of tariff quotas, and will provide further updates as they unfold. In the meantime, please do not hesitate to reach out to your Baker McKenzie Trade & Customs team, who would be pleased to discuss what these developments mean for your business.
