Regulation (EU) 2026/1963 governs steel melt-and-pour evidence from 1 October.

The Regulation and its scope

On 28 August 2026, the European Commission adopted Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2026/1963, which specifies the evidence required for the country of melt and pour of steel products imported into the Union . The Regulation was published in the Official Journal on 31 August 2026 .

According to the Commission, the measure sets out the type of evidence intended to establish the country in which steel products subject to the EU steel regulation were melted and poured . The concept refers to the country in which steel or cast iron is first produced in liquid form in a furnace and then cast in solid form, including where scrap is remelted .

The material scope covers imports into the Union of products falling within the categories listed in Annex I to Regulation (EU) 2026/1384 . That Regulation provides the framework to which Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2026/1963 is linked for the steel products concerned .

The research file does not reproduce the detailed list of tariff headings or categories set out in Annex I to Regulation (EU) 2026/1384 . The Commission page consulted describes the scope by reference to products covered by the EU steel regulation, without reproducing that nomenclature in the available extract .

The mill test certificate and supplementary supporting documents

The mill test certificate, referred to in the Commission documentation as the “Mill Test Certificate” (MTC), is the principal document accepted to establish the country of melt and pour . The certificate must state the country in which the product was melted and poured, together with its heat number .

The Commission defines that country as the one in which steel or pig iron is first produced in liquid form in a furnace and then cast in solid form . This definition includes the remelting of scrap .

Where the certificate is available but does not contain either of those two details, customs authorities may examine supplementary supporting documents containing the missing information . The published list includes:

• invoices and delivery notes ;
• quality certificates, executed contract clauses and purchase orders ;
• long-term supplier declarations ;
• accounting and production records ;
• customs documents from the exporting country ;
• commercial correspondence and product descriptions .

According to the Commission, the mill test certificate is neither a harmonised document nor one specifically designed to substantiate the country of melt and pour . It nevertheless presents it as the principal means of proof because of its recognition in the steel industry . The Commission states that the list of accepted supporting documents will be reviewed and may be adapted .

Application from 1 October 2026 and the transitional period

Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2026/1963 entered into force on 1 September 2026, according to Vietnam.vn’s presentation of the text . Its general application starts on 1 October 2026 .

The transitional period runs from 1 October 2026 to 30 September 2027 . During that period, where a mill test certificate cannot be provided, customs authorities may consider the other accepted documents as standalone evidence, according to the LCTA . Those documents must then state both the country of melt and pour and the heat number .

The source describes this transitional arrangement as distinct from the case where a mill test certificate is available but incomplete: supplementary supporting documents may then contain the missing information .

The Commission launched a targeted consultation on the type of evidence relating to the country of melt and pour. The Commission page is referenced under a URL containing the date 4 June 2026, but the available extract does not explicitly date the launch in its text .

According to Vietnam.vn, the Commission intends to review the list of evidence regularly and may adapt the documentary requirements .