Key takeaways
EU prohibition
This aims to prevent Russian crude oil from reaching the EU market in any form.
Limited scope
The prohibition does not apply to imports into non-EU countries, including transfers by EU operators.
Evidence of origin
Operators should have due diligence procedures in place to ensure they do not breach the ban.
As of 21 January 2026, by way of Article 3ma of Council Regulation (EU) No 833/2014 of 31 July 2014 (Regulation), the EU has prohibited the purchase, import or transfer into the European Union of petroleum products from third countries which contain Russian crude oil.
Article 3ma
Article 3ma provides as follows:
It shall be prohibited, as of 21 January 2026, to purchase, import or transfer, directly or indirectly into the Union, petroleum products falling under CN code 2710 obtained in a third country from crude oil falling under CN code 2709 00 originating in Russia.
For the purposes of the application of this paragraph, at the moment of importation, importers shall provide evidence of the country of origin of the crude oil used for the refining of the product in a third country unless the product is imported from a partner country listed in Annex LI.
Petroleum products imported from third countries which were net exporters of crude oil in the previous calendar year shall be considered to have been obtained from domestic crude oil and not from crude oil originating in Russia, unless a competent authority has reasonable grounds to believe that they have been obtained from Russian crude oil.
It shall be prohibited to provide, directly or indirectly, technical assistance, brokering services, financing or financial assistance, as well as insurance and re-insurance, related to the prohibition in paragraph 1.
Article 3ma was adopted on 18 July 2025 as part of the EU’s 18th package of sanctions against Russia. In introducing the prohibition, the EU stated that this is a clampdown on refined product imports made from Russian crude that are processed abroad and delivered into the EU and will prevent Russian crude oil from reaching the EU market in any form.
The position going forward
Refined petroleum products will now be dealt with, as follows:
Refined petroleum products from third countries (a country that is not a member of the EU) containing Russian crude oil will be prohibited from entering the EU.
For petroleum products being imported into the EU from partner countries, namely Canada, Norway, the US, the UK, and Switzerland (listed in Annex LI of the Regulation), no evidence needs to be provided on the origin of the crude oil from which the petroleum product is obtained.
Where refined petroleum products are being imported into the EU from third countries that are net exporters of crude oil in the previous calendar year, evidence of the origin of the petroleum product will need to be obtained from the net exporter country confirming its origin from that country.
For example, where the net exporter country is, e.g. the UAE, evidence will need to be obtained confirming that the oil originates from the UAE.
Question 4 of Section E7 of the EU’s Consolidated FAQs sets out a list of net-exporter countries of crude oil for 2024. The FAQs state that the table will be updated once a year in order to establish the list based on the previous calendar year.
The EU has stated that for these countries, the petroleum products benefit from a presumption that they have been made from crude oil produced in the country. Further, that it is sufficient that the importer provides evidence of the origin of the petroleum product itself (from a net exporter of crude oil), without having to provide evidence of the origin of the upstream crude oil.
For refined petroleum products loaded from countries that do not fall within the EU-listed net exporter countries or EU partner countries, evidence is required of the origin of the upstream crude oil (i.e. the extraction origin of the crude) in the production of the petroleum product.
Article 3ma only applies to imports into the EU. Refined petroleum products containing Russian crude oil will still be permitted entry into non-EU countries, including the transfer of such products to third countries by EU operators.
Further, Article 3ma only applies to petroleum products classified as CN Code 2710, which are produced using Russian origin crude oil (CN Code 2709 00). For example, products classified under CN code 2707 which are produced in third countries using Russian origin crude oil can still be imported into the EU, subject to such trade complying with other applicable sanctions laws.
What evidence is required
As matters stand, the EU has not provided guidance as to what exact “evidence” is required in scenarios (iii) and (iv) above. The EU has simply stated that operators should have in place adequate due diligence procedures to ensure that no Russian crude oil falling under CN code 2709 00 was used in the production of petroleum products falling under CN code 2710 imported into the EU.
That said, the EU has commented as follows at question 1 of Section E7 of its Consolidated FAQs:
Operators are expected to provide to customs all relevant information necessary to identify the origin of the crude oil used in the production of the petroleum products, including appropriate evidence on the country where the crude oil used has been extracted.
For the purpose of assessing whether petroleum products are obtained from crude oil of Russian origin, importers may reasonably rely upon any documentation providing evidence on the origin of the crude oil from which it has been processed but should exercise caution if they have reasons to believe that such documentation has been falsified or is otherwise erroneous.
Operators are advised to insert contractual clauses with their supplier in the purchase contract of imported products. Such a clause would contain a guarantee (e.g. requesting an attestation of assurance) of non-Russian crude oil origin, giving rise to liability of the supplier if it is established that Russian crude oil was used for refining of the imported products.
Comment
In summary, this ban essentially puts a stop to Russian crude oil being used to produce petroleum products with cargo code 2710 which are intended for the EU.
The places an additional onus on owners/importers to evidence the origin of the crude content contained in refined petroleum products.
We expect that the EU will issue further guidance on this, in the form of its FAQs, in due course.
This article was co-authored by Associate, Charlotte Wood.
