Commission updates third-country food import lists, tightening and widening market access

The European Commission has redrawn the EU lists of third countries allowed to send food of animal origin into the Union, in Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2026/2228 of 14 October 2026, published in the Official Journal of the European Union (OJ L, 15.10.2026). The act amends Implementing Regulation (EU) 2021/405, which sets out the lists of third countries or regions thereof authorised for the entry into the Union of consignments of certain animals and goods intended for human consumption. It adds Albania for eggs, approves Canada for casings and Egypt for aquaculture, and removes Curaçao and Sint Maarten from the fishery products list.

The regulation is based on Article 127(2) of Regulation (EU) 2017/625, the Official Controls Regulation, and was adopted after the opinion of the Standing Committee on Plants, Animals, Food and Feed. It was signed in Brussels on 14 October 2026 by Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, is binding in its entirety and is directly applicable in all Member States. Article 1 amends Annexes -I, IV and IX to Implementing Regulation (EU) 2021/405; under Article 2 the text enters into force on the twentieth day following publication, that is, on 4 November 2026.

New approvals, withdrawals and scope changes

• United States: the ‘X’ and the remark ‘caprine only’ for ovine/caprine in Annex -I are deleted, as Washington no longer seeks to export fresh caprine meat.
• Canada: listed with an ‘X’ for casings after submitting a control plan that provides the required guarantees; its aquaculture listing is limited to finfish and finfish products only.
• Egypt: listed with an ‘X’ for aquaculture without remarks, after its control plan for finfish and crustaceans was approved.
• Mozambique: entry deleted from Annex -I and limited to wild catch in Annex IX, after failing to provide guarantees of compliance.
• Albania: inserted in Annex IV, the list of third countries authorised to export eggs for placing on the market as class A eggs, on the basis of Salmonella control guarantees.
• Curaçao and Sint Maarten: removed from Annex IX for lack of the required guarantees.
• Falkland Islands and Tanzania: entries limited to wild catch, after both informed the Commission they no longer export aquaculture products.

A restructured fishery products list

Annex IX is replaced in full. The Commission states that experience gained by Member State competent authorities highlighted “ambiguities and operational difficulties” in the existing table, which required structural amendments to ensure clarity and uniform application across the Union. New columns now distinguish wild catch, aquaculture finfish and finfish products, and crustaceans.

Twenty-two third countries are listed for aquaculture finfish and finfish products: Albania, Armenia, Argentina, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Belarus, Canada, Switzerland, Chile, the United Kingdom, Israel, the Isle of Man, Kenya, Morocco, Moldova, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Mauritius, New Zealand, Serbia, Tunisia, Türkiye and Uruguay. Azerbaijan and Iran are listed for finfish products only, such as roes and caviar.

Aquaculture and the ‘M’ marking

Note 16 in Annex -I is amended so that the ‘M’ mark for third countries with approved control plans applies only to those entering the Union with live, chilled, frozen or processed bivalve molluscs, echinoderms, tunicates and marine gastropods where production takes place in premises on land. The change follows Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2026/1304, which exempted those aquatic animals from certain entry requirements.

The regulation also confirms that the Commission may include a third country in the list only where its competent authority supplies evidence and guarantees on traceability and origin, as required by Delegated Regulation (EU) 2022/2292.

For importers, agri-food operators and border control posts, the amendments mean revised documentary checks and certificates from 4 November 2026, with new market openings for Canadian casings, Egyptian aquaculture and Albanian eggs, and closed or narrowed access for the United States, Mozambique, Curaçao, Sint Maarten, the Falkland Islands and Tanzania.

Source: Official Journal of the European Union, L series, 15.10.2026, legislation (official reference: CELEX:L_202602228).