EU Metals Rule and Certification of Aircraft Parts – Updates For Older Parts

As we wrote last month, the EU has issued new rules that are meant to help ensure compliance with Russia sanctions. These rules include a requirement for certain iron and steel articles to certify the source of the metals when these articles are imported in to the EU (to ensure the metal is not sourced from Russia). The EU has published a FAQ that provides an exception for parts produced before June 23, 2023.

As a practical matter, ASA members in the EU who are importing, and ASA members outside the EU who are exporting to the EU, need to make sure they can document source of the metal for certain articles. These iron and steel articles include, but are not limited to:

• screws, bolts, nuts, coach screws, screw hooks, rivets, cotters, cotter pins, washers, incl. spring washers, and similar articles, of iron or steel under CN Heading 7218;
• wire of alloy steel other than stainless, in coils (excl. bars and rods) under CN Heading 7229;
• containers of iron or steel, for compressed or liquefied gas under CN Heading 7311;
• air heaters and hot-air distributors under CN Heading 7322;
• lavatory fixtures under CN Heading 7324;
• articles of iron or steel regulated under CN Heading 7325 or 7326.

While the CN Headings are quite similar to the Harmonized Tariff Code Headings, it is wise to look directly at the European Union’s CN Headings to make sure you are properly characterizing your goods under EU law. Bear in mind also that this new rule applies to articles processed outside the EU.

If you have an article that is affected by the new rules, then you will need evidence of the country of origin of the iron and steel inputs used for the processing of the product. This must be available at the time of import into the EU.

The Exclusion

The EU regulation does not have any plain language exclusions for reasonableness, but the EU has published an exception among its “frequently asked questions” that limits application of the rule (look at question 6 of the FAQ document):

Does the application of Article 3g (1) (d) of Regulation (EU) No 833/2014 also extend to products that were manufactured or processed in a third country before 30 September 2023? Last update: 2 October 2023

The prohibition applies to imports of iron and steel products incorporating inputs originating from Russia that enter the Union as of 30 September 2023, provided that they were manufactured or produced after 23 June 2023. That is the date when the obligation for the importer to demonstrate the country of origin of the iron and steel inputs used for the processing of the product in a third country was introduced in EU law. Coupled with the almost one-year wind-down period of the prohibition itself, this should have allowed an orderly planning of imports into the Union of the relevant goods before 30 September 2023.
If the abovementioned goods are already in the territory of the Union and have been presented to customs before 30 September 2023, Article 12e applies and they can be purchased or transferred after that date (see Q3).

This means that articles that would be subject to the new EU import documentation rule, but were produced before June 23, 2023, are not required to bear the applicable documentation. As a practical matter, this is likely to mean that you will need documentation to show that the article was produced before June 23, 2023. This can include trace documentation showing commercial transactions before the date, an approval for return to service showing maintenance before the date, or an authorized release document that shows that the article was produced/approved before the date. Such documentation should be made available to prove that the article is exempt from the EU’s metals-sourcing-documentation requirement.