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Your Compliance Calendar: The Deadlines That Matter

The biggest packaging law in EU history already applies. If you missed that one, you're not alone — it arrived on 12 August 2026 and most small businesses didn't notice. The next eighteen months bring a cluster of deadlines that will do more to change what you can sell than anything in the last five years. Here they are, in one place, with what each one actually means for a small company.

The deadlines at a glance

When What happens Who it hits
Now EUDR due diligence is fully in force Importers of cattle, cocoa, coffee, palm, rubber, soya and wood
12 Aug 2026 PPWR applied — packaging rules for all 27 EU states Anyone selling packaged goods into the EU
1 Jan 2027 California SB 54: join a PRO for packaging Brands selling packaged goods in California
20 Jan 2027 Machinery Regulation replaces the old Directive Machinery makers, importers and retrofit workshops
Feb 2027 Battery passports and due diligence obligations Battery importers and assemblers
2 Aug 2027 AI Act high-risk rules for regulated products Products with AI features (many Annex I goods)
11 Dec 2027 Cyber Resilience Act main obligations Anything with digital elements, from smart meters to baby monitors
14 Dec 2027 EU Forced Labour Regulation starts applying Everyone selling goods in the EU, any size
Dec 2027 UKCA replaces CE marking in Great Britain Anyone selling into GB
20 Jan 2028 FSMA 204 traceability records due (extended) Food importers and distributors into the US

The one that already happened

The EU Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation is not a proposal anymore. It applies, it's directly binding, and it changes labelling, recyclability design and recycled-content targets across the entire single market. We wrote the full guide here. If your packaging hasn't been reviewed against it, that's the first item on this calendar, not a future one.

Same story with the deforestation regulation: the phase-ins are done and due diligence statements are now the cost of entry for the covered commodities. The guide explains the geolocation requirement and the penalties.

The January-February 2027 cluster

Three deadlines arrive within weeks of each other.

California's SB 54 requires producers of packaged goods to join a producer responsibility organization by 1 January 2027 — the date is fixed in the statute, and the fees are eco-modulated, meaning your packaging choices become a cost line. There's no blog post to hide behind here; put the date in your calendar and check your small-producer status against the state's thresholds.

Then the Machinery Regulation on 20 January 2027. The part that surprises people: if you modify a machine substantially — retrofit a CNC, add automation to a saw — you become its manufacturer under the new rules and take on the conformity assessment. Digital instructions become the norm, and machines with AI safety functions fall under both this regulation and the AI Act. Small workshops are exactly the companies this catches.

And in February 2027, battery passports and due diligence obligations land for the batteries that power e-bikes, tools and industrial equipment. Our battery guide covers the data you'll need.

The big one: December 2027

The EU Forced Labour Regulation starts applying on 14 December 2027. No size threshold, no industry exemption, and enforcement that can remove your product from the EU market at your expense. It sits alongside the AI Act's later phase and the Cyber Resilience Act, which we covered in this SBOM-focused guide.

December 2027 is also when the UK stops accepting CE marking for most goods and UKCA becomes the rule for Great Britain. The UKCA guide walks through the declaration. Two Decembers from now, a lot of products lose market access at once. Plan for it in 2026, not 2027.

The watch list

Some deadlines are still moving:

  • Green Claims Directive. Expected to apply around 2027-2028 once the final text is published. Every environmental claim will need substantiation and, for many, third-party verification.
  • EU textiles EPR. Harmonised producer responsibility for clothing and footwear is coming; France's system has been running for years. Watch the final adopted text.
  • ESPR delegated acts. The Digital Product Passport rules are being adopted product group by product group through 2026 and 2027. The ESPR checklist tracks what's live.
  • CBAM. The definitive regime is already running — if you import cement, iron, steel, aluminium, fertiliser, electricity or hydrogen, the definitive report guide is not optional reading.

How to use this calendar

Pick three dates and treat them as projects, not notices. Each deadline has the same underlying need: product data, supplier evidence, and a document that proves the work. The companies that handle these smoothly are rarely the ones with compliance departments — they're the ones who keep the evidence in one place and update it when things change.

That's the whole reason we built Sustalium the way we did: living documents instead of files. When a regulation is amended — and most of the deadlines above will be amended before they arrive — you see the new version, press update, and every page that references it stays current. Put the dates in your real calendar this week. The first one is already behind us.

How Sustalium Helps with Deadlines

  • Regulation versions tracked for you — every framework your documents reference is monitored, so an amendment shows up as an update instead of a surprise.
  • Update once, everywhere — press update on a framework and every product page that references it stays current.
  • Evidence per deadline — each date on this calendar maps to published, dated, verifiable documents your buyers can check themselves.

Deadlines Keep Moving. Your Documents Shouldn't Have To.

Sustalium keeps the documents behind every deadline live, versioned and verifiable, so when the regulation is amended you press update instead of starting over. Start structuring your data free and publish the verified asset when you are ready.

[See Which Frameworks Apply to You →](/countries/map/){ .md-button .md-button--primary }

Frequently Asked Questions

Do these deadlines apply to small businesses?

Yes. Most have no size threshold — PPWR, EUDR and the Forced Labour Regulation apply to every operator, and California's SB 54 only exempts the smallest producers. The difference for a small firm is fewer resources, not fewer obligations.

What should I do first?

Review your packaging against PPWR, since it already applies, then calendar the January and February 2027 cluster: California's PRO deadline, the Machinery Regulation and battery passports.

Do the rules change after I've complied?

Constantly. Delegated acts, guidance and amended annexes arrive every year. That's why the deliverable should be a living document that can be updated, not a finished file.

Last updated: September 2, 2026

Global Digital Trust & Compliance

Sustalium is the digital-first platform for managing complex business certificates and sustainability declarations across global supply chains.

Environment & ESG
  • Digital Product Passport (DPP)
  • Carbon & Water Footprint
  • Circularity & Reuse (ISO 14021)
  • De-Forestation Free
Product & Food Safety
  • FSMA 204 (FDA Traceability)
  • REACH & RoHS Compliance
  • PFAS-Free & VOC Declarations
  • Prop 65 & TSCA Title VI
Social & Ethical
  • ISO 26000 Responsibility
  • Modern Slavery Statements
  • UFLPA Forced Labor Traceability
  • Ethical Labor Declarations
Governance & Trade
  • Swiss Made & Origin Claims
  • GDPR & AI Ethics (EU AI Act)
  • CE Marking & UKCA Conformity
  • Bill S-211 (Canada) Reporting
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Have questions about a specific standard?
Contact our compliance team at compliance@sustalium.com