What's changing
Rule and platform changes that reach your product data
Platforms enforce their deadlines in code; legal dates sometimes move. Each item shows its status, what it means for your catalogue, orders or customer data, and its source.
Dates and sources checked on 20 October 2026. I re-check them every month.
Coming up
Deadlines ahead, the nearest first.
Failing since 1 September 2026 · shutdown in early 2027 · Google
Google's old Merchant Center API is shutting down
Google's Content API for Shopping reached its end of life on 18 August 2026. Since 1 September, calls to it fail intermittently, and Google turns it off completely in early 2027, a date it says may still move. Shops that use their platform's own Google integration have nothing to do; custom scripts and connectors have to be rewritten for the Merchant API, or prices and stock stop updating on Google.
30 December 2026 · 30 June 2027 for micro and small operators · EU
Deforestation-free proof for wood, paper, rubber and more
Companies placing goods made from wood, rubber, cocoa, coffee, soy, palm oil or cattle on the EU market, from furniture, pallets and paper packaging to chocolate, need geolocation and due-diligence data for each batch. The rules apply from 30 December 2026; micro and small operators established by the end of 2024 have until 30 June 2027, except for timber already covered by the old timber rules. Both dates have already moved twice. The data has to come from suppliers, and statement references travel with orders and invoices.
14 January 2027 · OpenAI; other vendors on their own dates
AI models in your automations are being retired
OpenAI removes the main versions of GPT-4o, GPT-4o mini, GPT-4.1 and GPT-4.1 mini from its API on 14 January 2027, and Anthropic retires Claude Sonnet 4.5 from its API on 30 November 2026. A product-description, translation or classification step that still calls a retired model stops working that day. Moving on takes a new model, a re-run of your test cases and adjusted prompts.
16 January 2027 · Shopify
Stricter stock updates on Shopify
From API version 2026-04, every stock update needs a key that stops it being applied twice, and must state the quantity it expects to replace or explicitly skip that check. Integrations still on version 2026-01 are moved onto these rules when that version retires on 16 January 2027. A custom stock sync that isn't updated sees its stock updates fail, and shop stock stops following the warehouse.
31 January 2027 · Google Merchant Center
Product images of at least 500 × 500 pixels on Google
From 31 January 2027, Google enforces a minimum of 500 × 500 pixels for product images, additional images included; Merchant Center has flagged smaller ones since April 2026. Google upgrades some small images itself, but products it can't fix risk disapproval. Catalogues built from supplier or scraped images often fall short: the fix belongs in the import, with larger images from the supplier and a size check on every update.
18 February 2027 · EU
Battery QR code and passport
From 18 February 2027, every battery sold in the EU needs a QR code. Batteries for electric vehicles, e-bikes and e-scooters, and industrial batteries over 2 kWh, also need a digital passport registered with the EU. It reaches anyone selling tools, electronics or other products with a battery: the battery data has to come from suppliers, product by product.
27 March 2027 · Amazon
Amazon removes its old order calls
On 27 March 2027, Amazon removes the calls of version 0 of its Orders API that fetch orders, order items and buyer details. An integration that pulls Amazon orders into an ERP, a warehouse system or invoicing through them stops receiving orders until it moves to the new Orders API (version 2026-01-01).
1 April 2027 · Microsoft 365
Microsoft switches off Exchange Web Services
Since October 2026, Microsoft has been switching off Exchange Web Services in Exchange Online tenant by tenant, unless an administrator keeps it on for listed apps, and on 1 April 2027 it disables it for good. At the end of December 2026, basic authentication for sending mail over SMTP is also switched off by default. ERP mail, and scripts that read supplier price lists from a mailbox, have to move to Microsoft Graph or another mail service.
30 September 2027 · EU
The first annual CBAM declaration
Companies importing more than 50 tonnes a year of steel, aluminium, cement, fertilisers or goods made from them, fasteners included, file their first annual declaration of the emissions embedded in those imports by 30 September 2027, and buy certificates to cover them, on sale from February 2027. The emissions data has to come from each supplier's plant, per customs code.
Already in force
Rules that apply now, checked by marketplaces and authorities.
In force since 2 August 2026 · EU
AI chatbots and AI-made content must be disclosed
Since 2 August 2026, the EU AI Act's transparency rules apply. A chatbot has to tell people it's a machine; generated or altered images and videos that could pass for real must be disclosed as AI-made; and the tools that generate content must mark their output in a machine-readable way (from 2 December 2026 for tools already on the market before August; a narrow exemption covers purely business-to-business outputs). Google asks for AI-written titles and descriptions in their own Merchant Center attributes. For a shop that means a disclosure line on the chat window, labelled product images with their metadata kept through the pipeline, and generated text sent through the right fields.
What I can do about it →Source: digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu
Fees by recyclability since the 2026–27 year · UK
UK packaging fees that depend on recyclability
Brand owners, importers and distributors that place packaging on the UK market report it and pay disposal fees, which from the 2026–27 fee year vary with each packaging type's recyclability rating, based on 2025 data. Packaging rated red pays 1.2 times the base fee, rising to twice the base fee by 2028–29. That takes packaging data per product, by material and weight; mandatory recycling labels are planned for around 2028.
In force since 13 December 2024 · EU and Northern Ireland
Product safety details on listings
Every online listing of a consumer product must show the manufacturer, an EU responsible person for non-EU makers, the product's identification and safety warnings in a language set by the country of sale. Each marketplace collects these in its own fields, and some silently drop data sent in an old format.
Watching
Bigger shifts without a date to act on yet. They join the list once a date is set.
- Checkout inside AI assistantsNo date for Europe yetGoogle, OpenAI and Microsoft let shoppers buy inside their assistants in the US only. In Europe, AI shopping today means answers built from your Merchant Center data, so complete product data matters more than a separate AI feed.
- The AI Act's rules for high-risk AI2 December 2027 and 2 August 2028The obligations for high-risk AI (logs, human oversight, technical documentation) were moved to 2 December 2027 for the listed uses and 2 August 2028 for AI built into regulated products such as machinery. Product-data tools rarely fall under them; worth knowing if AI goes into a product you sell.
- Packaging registration checks on every EU marketplaceOnce national registers are harmonisedThe EU packaging regulation, applicable since 12 August 2026, will make online platforms collect each producer's registration number and a self-certification for the consumer's country before letting them sell. The Commission says platforms don't have to ask yet: the check starts once harmonised national registers exist.
- Product passports beyond batteriesFrom about 2028The EU passport registry is live, but the rules for steel, textiles, aluminium and tyres are still being written, and each applies at least 18 months after adoption. The useful work now is product identifiers and supplier data.
- E-invoicing between EU countries1 July 2030Invoices between businesses in different EU countries become structured e-invoices, reported digitally (the EU's “VAT in the Digital Age” package).
- UK duties for online marketplacesNo regulations yetThe Product Regulation and Metrology Act 2025 allows rules on how marketplaces check sellers and listings. The government consulted on them in 2026 but hasn't set them yet.
Not sure which of these reach you?
Send the address of your catalogue or shop. The free check covers the changes that apply to it.