The European Commission is preparing a European Product Act to reform EU rules on product compliance and market surveillance. According to analysis of a leaked draft, the Act would replace the New Legislative Framework, the 2008 package that underpins CE marking and conformity assessment, and the Market Surveillance Regulation, which governs how products are checked and policed.
On 21 September 2026, the European Commission adopted the delegated regulation that sets the new Union handling fee at EUR 2 per item. The fee applies to goods sold through distance sales and released for free circulation in the EU. It follows the publication of the new Union Customs Code, Regulation (EU) 2026/2108, in the Official Journal on 19 September.
The WCO is less famous than the WTO, but it sits closer to the daily mechanics of trade. Its instruments shape how goods are classified, valued, declared, risk-assessed and released, long before any tariff dispute reaches a negotiating table. They also underpin how Customs administrations cooperate with each other and with the businesses that move goods across their borders.
A multinational group deciding where profit should be taxed, a company reviewing bribery risk in a new market, or an exporter seeking government-backed finance may all be working with standards developed at the OECD. The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development does not settle trade disputes or write customs rules.
Regulation (EU) 2026/2108 is in force. It fixes the Data Hub timetable in law, puts a price on e-commerce non-compliance and moves responsibility upstream to sellers and platforms. This feature sets out what the adopted text says and what it means for your business.
The past eighteen months have blurred three different things: the trade rules governments agreed through the WTO, what governments are now doing unilaterally, and what the WTO itself can still enforce. This explainer separates the three, so that the next tariff announcement, trade dispute or new bilateral deal in the headlines has a fixed reference point behind it, rather than a moving one.
Reports have circulated in trade circles that Canada, Mexico and the European Union are working on a new trilateral trade agreement. ECTM found no official announcement or negotiating mandate for a standalone EU-Canada-Mexico free trade negotiation.
On 3 September 2026, the Council of the EU adopted its position at first reading on the reformed Union Customs Code. Subject to European Parliament approval, expected later in September, and publication in the Official Journal, an EU-wide handling fee for distance-sale goods is due to be introduced by 1 November 2026.
Two patented pharmaceutical products can share the same tariff classification and the same country of origin. Yet under current US policy, they may not receive the same tariff treatment. One product may be covered by an approved investment and pricing agreement between its company and the US Government. The other may not.