EU CBAM definitive regime 2026: what iron, steel and aluminium importers must do now

Egor Osipov · Sovran Commodities
Published 22 July 2026 · Last updated 22 July 2026

When does the definitive regime apply?

The definitive regime began on 1 January 2026. The transitional phase, which ran from 1 October 2023 to 31 December 2025, required quarterly emissions reports and no payment. The final transitional report, covering Q4 2025, fell due on 31 January 2026. From 1 January 2026, financial liability accrues on every in-scope import above the annual threshold, and customs declarations are checked in real time against the CBAM Registry. The European Commission's CBAM page confirms the phase dates.

The governing text is Regulation (EU) 2023/956 of 10 May 2023, as amended by Regulation (EU) 2025/2083, the Omnibus simplification regulation signed on 8 October 2025 and in force from 20 October 2025. One widely used reference site, cbamguide.com, gives 17 October 2025 as the in-force date; that is the Official Journal publication date. KPMG, PwC, Mayer Brown and the regulation's own text all confirm 20 October 2025.

Do I need authorised CBAM declarant status?

Any importer, or indirect customs representative, bringing more than 50 tonnes of CBAM goods into the EU in a calendar year must hold authorised declarant status. The national competent authority of the Member State of establishment grants it through the CBAM Registry, which the Commission's DG TAXUD operates. Germany's authority is DEHSt; the Netherlands' is the NEa.

Importers who applied by 31 March 2026 may keep importing provisionally while the application is processed, and the authority has up to 120 days to decide. An importer that missed that date has no provisional protection. Customs checks declarations against the Registry in real time, and Annex I goods without authorisation can be blocked at the border, as DEHSt's authorisation guidance sets out. TARIC document codes must appear on every declaration: Y128 for an authorised declarant, Y238 for a pending application, Y137 for imports below the threshold.

Does the 50-tonne threshold cover me?

Article 2(3a), inserted by Regulation 2025/2083, sets a de minimis of 50 tonnes net mass per importer per calendar year, aggregated across all CBAM goods. It replaced the old €150-per-consignment value rule, per the Commission's simplification announcement.

The rule is all or nothing. Once cumulative annual imports cross 50 tonnes, full CBAM obligations apply to every tonne imported since 1 January of that year. The threshold covers iron and steel, aluminium, cement and fertilisers. Electricity and hydrogen carry no threshold.

The Commission says the change is "expected to exempt approximately 182,000 importers", roughly 90% of importers, mostly SMEs, while keeping more than 99% of embedded emissions in scope. Two cautions apply. First, the February 2025 Omnibus proposal described 50 tonnes per type of goods; the final text aggregates across all goods, and any advisory still describing a per-product threshold is outdated. Second, around 200,000 importers filed transitional-period reports, so most current filers will fall out of scope, but an importer running many small consignments can cross 50 tonnes without noticing. Track cumulative tonnage monthly.

What do certificates cost in 2026, and when do I pay?

Certificates are priced at the weighted average of EU ETS auction clearing prices. In 2026 the Commission publishes a quarterly average in the first week of the following quarter, and each quarter's price applies to that quarter's imports. From 2027, prices switch to weekly publication. The Commission's certificate price page carries the official figures.

The first official price, for Q1 2026, was €75.36 per tCO2e, published 7 April 2026. The Q2 2026 price is €75.28 per tCO2e, published 6 July 2026. Q3 follows on 5 October 2026 and Q4 on 4 January 2027. Market commentaries cite spot EU ETS anywhere between €80.50 (22 July 2026) and about €84 per tonne this month; treat those as context. The figure that sets liability is the Commission's quarterly average.

No certificates are sold during 2026. Sales open on 1 February 2027 through the common central platform, and declarants will buy retroactively against 2026 imports, as the Commission's certificate price announcement confirms. The Commission's consultation on the draft delegated regulation governing sale and repurchase runs from 9 July to 6 August 2026.

The 2026 bill is small relative to headline emissions. The CBAM factor, the free-allocation adjustment, means only 2.5% of embedded emissions require certificate coverage in 2026. The share rises to 48.5% in 2030 and 100% by 2034 as ETS free allocation phases out. At the Q2 price, blast-furnace steel nets roughly €2.76 per tonne in 2026, against a gross figure of €110.29 at full coverage. Provision now, because the liability compounds each year.

What goes into the first annual declaration?

One annual CBAM declaration per calendar year replaces the transitional quarterly reports. The first, covering all 2026 imports, is due 30 September 2027. Thereafter the deadline is 30 September each year.

Three deadline dates circulate, and two of them are wrong. The original Article 6 of Regulation 2023/956 said 31 May. The Commission's February 2025 Omnibus proposal said 31 August. The final Regulation 2025/2083 sets 30 September, and one blog's "October 30th" has no basis at all. Compliance planning should use 30 September 2027.

For each consignment the declaration needs the CN code, net mass, country of origin, production installation and specific embedded emissions. Emissions can be verified actuals from the third-country producer, signed off by an accredited third-party verifier, or Commission default values under Implementing Regulation (EU) 2025/2621. Defaults carry punitive mark-ups of 10% in 2026, 20% in 2027 and 30% from 2028, and they are set deliberately high for major steel origins: the China slab default is 3.167 tCO2e per tonne against a BF-BOF benchmark of 1.370. Accredited verifiers may register in the CBAM Registry from 1 September 2026.

The declaration reduces by any carbon price effectively paid in the country of production, under Article 9. The implementing regulation on recognising third-country carbon prices is still pending; its consultation closed on 10 June 2026. Importers planning to claim the deduction should track adoption and keep proof of carbon price payment at origin.

What are the holding and surrender rules?

From 2027, at each quarter-end the declarant's registry account must hold certificates equal to at least 50% of cumulative embedded emissions since 1 January. The Omnibus cut this from 80%, as PwC's analysis of Regulation 2025/2083 records. The rule is only operative from Q1 2027, because no certificates sit in accounts before sales open on 1 February 2027. Advisories implying a 2026 start should be disregarded.

On 30 September 2027 the declarant surrenders certificates covering the verified embedded emissions of all 2026 imports, after the CBAM factor and any Article 9 deduction. Up to 50% of purchased certificates can be sold back at purchase price. Sources conflict on when unsurrendered old certificates are cancelled: one guide says 1 July each year, another says 1 November after the buyback deadline. Check the consolidated Articles 22 and 23 before relying on either date.

What does non-compliance cost?

An authorised declarant that under-surrenders pays €100 per tCO2e of shortfall, inflation-indexed and mirroring the EU ETS excess-emissions penalty. Paying the penalty leaves the surrender obligation intact; the certificates must still be bought and surrendered.

Importing without authorisation, including crossing the 50-tonne threshold without status, draws €300 to €500 per tCO2e, three to five times the standard rate. Per KPMG's legal alert, the authority may reduce the penalty where the threshold excess is under 10% or an authorisation decision is pending.

What could change next?

Proposal COM(2025)989 of 17 December 2025 would extend CBAM to roughly 180 downstream steel- and aluminium-intensive products and to pre-consumer scrap from 1 January 2028. It also adds a proposed Article 27a emergency brake, allowing temporary removal of goods from scope in cases of severe market harm, potentially retroactive to 1 January 2026. It is a proposal, not adopted law. Eurofer, the European steel association, said the package failed to deliver "a comprehensive and durable response to carbon and jobs leakage", per Reuters coverage of the December 2025 package.

What should buyers do now?

Confirm the authorised declarant application is filed and traceable in the CBAM Registry. If it went in after 31 March 2026, treat every consignment as exposed to border delay until the decision arrives, since provisional importing protection lapsed with that date.

Put the correct TARIC document code on every customs declaration, and reconcile the Registry record against the customs broker's filings monthly. Track cumulative tonnage across all CBAM goods against the 50-tonne line, because obligations attach retroactively to 1 January once the line is crossed.

Collect verified embedded-emissions data from suppliers for 2026 consignments now, and book accredited verification for the second half of the year. Verifier registration opens 1 September 2026 and capacity will tighten. Where a supplier cannot deliver actuals, price the 10% default-value mark-up into landed cost before agreeing 2027 contracts, and remember the mark-up rises to 20% in 2027.

Provision cash for the 2026 liability at the published quarterly prices, €75.36 for Q1 and €75.28 for Q2, recognising that cash outflow starts in February 2027 and the surrender falls on 30 September 2027. Diarise the 6 August 2026 close of the certificate-sale consultation and watch for the pending Article 9 implementing regulation.

What should non-EU mills and suppliers do now?

EU customers will ask for installation-level embedded-emissions data on every 2026 consignment, because without it they must apply punitive defaults such as the 3.167 tCO2e China slab figure. Calculate specific embedded emissions per installation under the methodology in Implementing Regulation (EU) 2025/2547, and prepare for third-party verification by an EU-accredited verifier; verifier registration in the CBAM Registry opens 1 September 2026.

Keep documentary evidence of any carbon price paid domestically. EU declarants can deduct it under Article 9, and they will ask for proof once the pending implementing regulation on third-country carbon prices is adopted.

Exporters of downstream steel or aluminium products should map their catalogue against the roughly 180 products listed in proposal COM(2025)989, which would extend CBAM scope from 1 January 2028. Early data readiness is the cheapest defence against losing EU order book when scope widens.

Where Sovran sits

Sovran Commodities runs CBAM exposure work for metals importers and their non-EU suppliers out of Hong Kong: embedded-emissions data collection from mills, certificate-liability provisioning against the Commission's quarterly prices, and declarant-side filing support alongside EU customs brokers. The desk tracks the pending implementing acts, including the certificate-sale delegated regulation and the Article 9 carbon-price deduction rules, and flags changes to clients as they are adopted. For a scoping conversation on 2026 liabilities and the 30 September 2027 declaration, write to mandates@sovrancommodities.com.

Authoritative sources: Regulation (EU) 2023/956, Regulation (EU) 2025/2083, and the European Commission (DG TAXUD) CBAM pages. This briefing is not legal advice.