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How to become an authorised CBAM declarant

By Jai Nischal Verma · Prices checked 31 Oct 2026 · EU law guide

How to Become a CBAM Declarant: Who needs it, and how to apply

Law last checked: 31 October 2026. Figures below are copied from the EU texts linked in Sources. This is general information, not legal, tax or customs advice. Rules and prices change; confirm them before you import.

An authorised CBAM declarant is the person allowed to bring CBAM goods into the EU. From 1 January 2026, customs are told not to let anyone else do it, with one large exception: the 50-tonne de minimis rule[3].

From import plan to authorised CBAM declarant. 1. Check whether you must apply: Over 50 tonnes of the four sectors, or any hydrogen or electricity.; 2. Apply in the CBAM registry: EU-established importers apply to the authority where they are established.; 3. Send the Article 5 particulars: EORI, activity, tax-debt certificate, five-year declaration, import estimates.; 4. Import only once authorised: Customs refuse the goods to anyone else, subject to the 50-tonne rule.; 5. Buy certificates from 1 Feb 2027: Have the 2026 certificates ready to surrender on 30 September 2027.From import plan to authorised CBAM declarant1Check whether you must applyOver 50 tonnes of the four sectors, or any hydrogen or electricity.2Apply in the CBAM registryEU-established importers apply to the authority where they are established.3Send the Article 5 particularsEORI, activity, tax-debt certificate, five-year declaration, import estimates.4Import only once authorisedCustoms refuse the goods to anyone else, subject to the 50-tonne rule.5Buy certificates from 1 Feb 2027Have the 2026 certificates ready to surrender on 30 September 2027.
From import plan to authorised CBAM declarant

Who has to apply

If you are established in an EU country and you import iron and steel, aluminium, cement or fertilisers, you apply when you expect the combined net mass of those goods to go over 50 tonnes in the calendar year[3][1]. Stay at or under 50 tonnes and Article 2a exempts you, as long as you declare that exemption on the customs declaration. Cross the line and the whole year’s imports of those goods come back into scope, not just the kilos above 50[3].

Hydrogen and electricity skip the exemption. Any import of either means the authorised-declarant rule applies[3][1]. The threshold checker runs that test with your own tonnes.

If the importer is not established in an EU country, the indirect customs representative has to hold authorised declarant status, and that is true even when the 50-tonne exemption would have covered the importer[3]. That is the line that matters for a lot of non-EU sellers who are the importer of record. The India guide walks through it from the exporter’s side.

The application, in the order the regulation describes it

  1. Check whether you must apply. Over 50 tonnes of the four sectors, or any hydrogen or electricity.
  2. Apply in the CBAM registry. EU-established importers apply to the authority where they are established.
  3. Send the Article 5 particulars. EORI, activity, tax-debt certificate, five-year declaration, import estimates.
  4. Import only once authorised. Customs refuse the goods to anyone else, subject to the 50-tonne rule.
  5. Buy certificates from 1 Feb 2027. Have the 2026 certificates ready to surrender on 30 September 2027.

You apply through the CBAM registry, to the competent authority in the EU country where you are established[3][1]. Article 5 asks for your name and address, EORI number, main EU activity, a tax-authority certificate that you are not under an outstanding recovery order for national tax debts, a declaration covering serious or repeated breaches of customs, tax or market-abuse rules over the previous five years, evidence of financial and operational capacity if the authority’s risk check asks for it, and an estimate of what you will import this year and next. An AEO number goes on the form if you have one[3].

The regulation does not print an application fee in Article 5. Later, authorised declarants can be charged fees that cover the cost of running the certificate-sales platform. Article 20 says those fees should only cover that cost. It does not set a euro amount, so neither do we[3].

What this costs you

The status is not the expensive part. The certificates are. On the running example (100 tonnes, 1.8 tCO2e per tonne, Q3 2026 price, 2026 factor), the simplified certificate line is €370.44, and you buy those 2026 certificates between 1 February 2027 and the surrender on 30 September 2027[3][2]. Anything bought for 2026 and not surrendered is cancelled on 1 November 2027 with no compensation[3].

Once you are authorised, the yearly paperwork is the annual declaration. Prices live on the price tracker.

Sources

Every dated figure on this page is taken from the EU texts below. Where a shipment example uses 100 tonnes and 1.8 tCO2e per tonne, that pair is an illustration, not a published default. Law last checked 31 October 2026. See our methodology and editorial policy. General information, not legal, tax or customs advice.

  1. [1] European Commission: CBAM definitive regime (from 1 January 2026): https://taxation-customs.ec.europa.eu/carbon-border-adjustment-mechanism/cbam-definitive-regime_en (checked 31 Oct 2026)
  2. [2] European Commission: Price of CBAM certificates (quarterly table): https://taxation-customs.ec.europa.eu/carbon-border-adjustment-mechanism/price-cbam-certificates_en (checked 31 Oct 2026)
  3. [3] Regulation (EU) 2023/956, consolidated 20 October 2025 (CBAM Regulation): https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/reg/2023/956/2025-10-20/eng (checked 31 Oct 2026)
  4. [4] Directive 2003/87/EC, consolidated (EU ETS), Article 10a(1a) CBAM factor: https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/dir/2003/87 (checked 31 Oct 2026)
  5. [5] Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2025/2548 (certificate price method): https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/HTML/?uri=CELEX%3A32025R2548 (checked 31 Oct 2026)
  6. [6] Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2025/2620 (free-allocation adjustment): https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/reg_impl/2025/2620/oj/eng (checked 31 Oct 2026)
  7. [7] European Commission Guidance No. 4 on the free-allocation adjustment (CBAM factor table, including 2034 at 0%): https://taxation-customs.ec.europa.eu/document/download/3aa2c730-4f1b-4524-8f71-d9cfe4880ac7_en?filename=Guidance+No.+4+-+CBAM+calculation+of+the+free+allocation+adjustment+to+the+number+of+CBAM+certificates+to+be+surrendered.pdf (checked 31 Oct 2026)