EU import requirements for certain dairy products and fishery products

Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2026/1304 of 12 June 2026 amending Delegated Regulation (EU) 2022/2292 as regards the requirements for the entry into the Union of certain dairy products, certain fishery products and bivalve molluscs, echinoderms, tunicates and marine gastropods

Update

Regulation 2022/2292 establishes which animal products must meet public health requirements (hygiene requirements, residue control plans, approval of establishments and official certificates) to be exported to the European Union (EU).

The new Regulation 2026/1304 updates this list of products by adding food preparations based on dairy products (included in Combined Nomenclature /Harmonized System (CN/HS) customs code 1901) and fishery products (included in CN/HS 2103).

It also clarifies that live, chilled, frozen, and processed bivalve molluscs, echinoderms, tunicates, and marine gastropods farmed in the sea do not need to be included in control plans for residues, contaminants, and pesticide residues. This only applies where their production takes place in premises on land.

Impacted Products

Food preparations based on dairy products and fishery products; live, chilled, frozen and processed bivalve molluscs, echinoderms, tunicates, and marine gastropods

What is changing?

Preparations based on dairy and fishery products

Regulation 2022/2292 lays down the public health requirements for exports of animal product to the EU.

The new Regulation 2026/1304 adds the CN customs codes 1901 and 2103, covering food preparations based on dairy and fishery products, to the list of animal products that may only enter the EU if they:

• come from a country that has been authorised by the EU to export (Art. 3)
• comply with the specific conditions of residue control plans for pharmacologically active substances residues, contaminants, and pesticide residues (Art. 5)
• are dispatched from, and obtained or prepared in, listed establishments where the specific hygiene rules in Regulation 853/2004 apply (Arts. 13 and 18 for fishery on-land establishment, factory vessel, freezer vessel, cold-store, or reefer vessel)
• are accompanied by an official certificate (Regulation 2022/2292, Art. 21).

Bivalve molluscs, echinoderms, tunicates, and marine gastropods

Live, chilled, frozen, and processed bivalve molluscs, echinoderms, tunicates, and marine gastropods do not have to fulfil the requirements concerning residues, contaminants, and pesticide residues (Regulation 2022/2292, Arts. 6–12). This exemption does not apply to the production in premises on land of live, chilled, frozen, or processed bivalve molluscs, echinoderms, tunicates, and marine gastropods.

Why?

Dairy and fishery product preparations

As CN/HS codes 1901 and 2103 were missing from the list of animal products covered by Regulation 2022/2292, certain animal products were not fulfilling the necessary requirements to ensure public health.

Bivalve molluscs, echinoderms, tunicates, and marine gastropods

As these products are usually produced and harvested in a natural environment, requirements relating to residues are not relevant. They remain relevant when production takes place in premises on land.

Timeline

The new rules apply from 13 September 2026.

What are the major implications for exporting countries?

This proposal provides greater legal certainty about which rules apply to food preparations based on dairy products and fishery products, and to bivalve molluscs, echinoderms, tunicates, and marine gastropods, whether farmed in natural or open water, or in establishments on land.

Recommended Actions

Competent authorities in exporting countries may need to update certification procedures for animal products in the newly added CN categories.

Background

Regulation 2017/625 lays down rules for official controls to verify that animals and goods entering the EU comply with EU food and food safety requirements.

Regulation 2022/2292 supplements those rules for the entry into the EU of food-producing animals and certain goods intended for human consumption. It sets out the obligations for exporting countries to be listed in the Annexes to Regulation 2021/405 and to approve the operators exporting to the EU, and to lay down a control plan for pesticides, contaminants, and pharmacological substances. It also identifies the relevant products by CN or HS codes.

Regulation 853/2004 lays down specific hygiene rules for products of animal origin. It requires food business operators importing products of animal origin from non-EU countries to ensure that the country is listed for the product concerned, and that the establishment from which the product was dispatched, obtained, or prepared is also listed.

In September 2023, Regulation 2023/2652 amended and corrected Regulation 2022/2292 for honey, meat products, highly refined products, gelatine capsules, fishery products, and private attestations.

In January 2025, Regulation 2025/637 added certain dairy products, food additives derived from animals, and collagen casings with CN/HS customs codes 1301, 1806, 3203, 3204, 3823, 3824, 2202 99, and 3917 10 10 to the list of products that can only be imported from authorised non-EU countries. It introduced certain dairy products and collagen casings with customs codes 1806, 2202 99, and 3917 10 10 in the list of products that can only be exported from listed establishments.

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