New Global Customs Rules for Vaccines Aim to Strengthen Emergency Preparedness — as U.S. Steps Outside WHO Framework

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On 1 January 2028, a quiet but significant change will take effect in global trade and public health governance. The World Health Organization, working alongside the World Trade Organization and the World Customs Organization, has helped update the Harmonized System (HS) — the global customs classification used by more than 200 countries and economies.

The update introduces 38 new customs codes covering human vaccines and other essential medical products, including face masks, personal protective equipment, ambulances, and mobile clinics. The expanded classification will be formally incorporated into HS 2028, making it easier to track medical shipments globally and accelerate customs clearance during future health emergencies.

The HS underpins how countries classify traded goods, apply tariffs, and compile comparable trade statistics. By expanding vaccine-specific codes, trade policy can better align with public-health objectives. In practical terms, the change enables faster customs processing for critical vaccines during emergencies, improved visibility into global vaccine flows, and more transparent data on supply and demand.

WHO played a central role in identifying which vaccines — both currently in use and in development — should be included. Its Market Information for Access (MI4A) peer platform, drawing on data from Member States, helped prioritize vaccines with significant trade volumes and those critical for preventing high-risk diseases. The initiative reflects how multilateral cooperation can quietly shape international standards long before a crisis hits.

What changes when the U.S. is outside WHO

This update also underscores a growing divergence. With the United States no longer participating in WHO frameworks, it will not help shape these classifications, nor will it benefit from early coordination mechanisms that speed access to vaccines and essential medical supplies during global emergencies. While U.S. companies can still trade under HS rules, federal agencies lose influence over how future vaccine categories are defined, how emergency corridors are prioritized, and how global surveillance data is shared in real time.

In effect, the U.S. becomes a rule-taker rather than a rule-shaper in global health logistics — a shift with long-term implications for preparedness, especially during fast-moving outbreaks.

Warning signs on the ground

Those implications are not theoretical. On Friday, measles cases were detected at the Dilley Immigration Processing Center in Texas, according to a statement from Department of Homeland Security spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin to CBS News. The facility, operated by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, houses parents and children taken into federal custody over alleged immigration violations.

At the same time, public-health policy is shifting at the state level. Florida’s Surgeon General has pledged to work with Governor Ron DeSantis to remove requirements for routine vaccinations — a move announced publicly and captured on video.

Taken together, these developments point to a widening gap: while global systems are being refined to move vaccines faster and more transparently in crises, parts of the U.S. are stepping away from both international coordination and domestic prevention norms.

The new customs codes will not make headlines. But they may determine, in the next emergency, who gets vaccines first, who waits longer — and who is at the table when those rules are written.