Guide

CBAM deadlines: the definitive-period timeline for 2026 and 2027

The CBAM definitive period started on 1 January 2026, but certificates go on sale only in February 2027 and the first annual declaration is due on 30 September 2027. This page puts every date on one timeline, taken from the Regulation as amended in 2025 and the Commission’s CBAM pages.

· Checked against the official EU texts on that date. CBAM rules and guidance change, so check the latest Commission guidance before you rely on a figure.

This guide is available in English, Turkish and German. You are reading the English version.

The timeline

Dates from Regulation (EU) 2023/956 as amended by Regulation (EU) 2025/2083, its implementing acts and the Commission’s CBAM pages. Recurring dates are shown for their first occurrence.

  1. Passed

    The CBAM Regulation enters into force

    Regulation (EU) 2023/956 was published on 16 May 2023 and entered into force the next day.

  2. Passed

    Transitional period

    Importers filed quarterly CBAM reports on embedded emissions. Nothing was paid.

  3. Passed

    The 2025 simplification enters into force

    Regulation (EU) 2025/2083, published on 17 October 2025, entered into force on the third day after publication. It introduced the 50-tonne threshold and moved the main deadlines.

  4. Passed

    The definitive period starts

    Above the 50-tonne threshold only authorised CBAM declarants may import CBAM goods, and the emissions embedded in 2026 imports go into the first declaration. Default values carry a 10 % mark-up; the CBAM factor is 97.5 %.

  5. Passed

    Last day to apply and keep importing

    Importers and indirect customs representatives that applied for authorisation by this date may continue importing until their competent authority decides (Article 17(7a)).

  6. Passed

    Q1 2026 certificate price: €75.36

    The Commission publishes one price per quarter of 2026, in the first week after the quarter ends.

  7. Passed

    Q2 2026 certificate price: €75.28

  8. Passed

    Corrected default values published

    Implementing Regulation (EU) 2026/1740 replaced the default-value tables with effect from 1 January 2026.

  9. Passed

    Accredited verifiers can register in the CBAM Registry

    Article 10a(1): not before 1 September 2026. The Commission expects first verifications (documentation review, site visit) from September.

  10. Passed

    The threshold stays at 50 tonnes

    The Commission’s assessment for April 2025 to March 2026: the threshold exempts 0.87 % of embedded emissions, below the 1 % limit.

  11. Passed

    Q3 2026 certificate price: €82.32

  13. Upcoming

    Weekly prices and the quarterly rule start

    From 2027 the certificate price is published weekly and declarants must hold certificates at the end of each quarter. The mark-up rises to 20 %, the CBAM factor falls to 95 %. In the Commission’s verification timeline, the first verification reports can be issued from January.

  14. Upcoming

    Q4 2026 certificate price due

    Publication date announced on the Commission’s price page.

  15. Upcoming

    Certificate sales open

    Authorised declarants buy certificates on the common central platform from the Member State where they are established, including those for 2026 imports.

  16. Upcoming

    First quarterly check

    Certificates on the account must cover at least 50 % of the embedded emissions of goods imported since 1 January 2027. The next checks follow at the end of each quarter.

  17. Upcoming

    First CBAM declaration and surrender

    The declaration for 2026 imports is submitted in the CBAM Registry and the certificates are surrendered. From then on, every year by 30 September for the previous year.

  18. Upcoming

    Last day for repurchase requests

    Excess certificates can be sold back to the Member State on request; certificates bought for 2026 only in 2027.

  19. Upcoming

    Unused 2026 certificates are cancelled

    Certificates bought for 2026 emissions and still on the account are cancelled without compensation.

  20. Upcoming

    The mark-up reaches 30 %

    The CBAM factor falls to 90 %.

  21. Upcoming

    Free allocation for CBAM goods ends

    No CBAM factor applies from 2034 (Directive (EU) 2023/959), so the free allocation adjustment no longer reduces the certificates due.

What the 2025 simplification changed

Regulation (EU) 2025/2083 rewrote the definitive period before it started. The main changes compared with the original Regulation:

Topic Original Regulation (2023) Since Regulation (EU) 2025/2083
Who is covered Every importer, except consignments of negligible value Importers above 50 tonnes a year of iron and steel, aluminium, cement and fertilisers together; electricity and hydrogen always
Annual declaration and surrender By 31 May of the following year By 30 September of the following year
Certificate sales From 2026 From 1 February 2027
Quarterly holding 80 % of embedded emissions, on default values 50 %, on default values without the mark-up or on the previous year’s surrender, after the free allocation adjustment; from 2027
Method Actual emissions; default values where they cannot be adequately determined Actual emissions or default values
Verification Of the declared embedded emissions Only where actual emissions are used
Carbon price paid abroad Deduction with evidence of the price effectively paid Also by reference to yearly default carbon prices, which the Commission may publish from 2027
Filing By the authorised declarant Can be delegated to a third party; indirect customs representatives must hold the status themselves

The 50-tonne threshold

  • It counts the net mass of all CBAM goods of the four sectors (iron and steel, aluminium, cement, fertilisers) that one importer brings in during a calendar year, across all CN codes and shipments (Article 2a).
  • An importer below it is exempt and declares the exemption in the customs declaration.
  • An importer that passes it during the year has all CBAM obligations for everything imported that year, including the first 50 tonnes. Importers that expect to pass it must apply for authorisation beforehand (Article 5(1b)); importing above it without authorisation is penalised (Article 26(2a)), and splitting imports artificially to stay below it counts as circumvention (Article 27(2)).
  • Electricity and hydrogen are not covered: every import of them is in scope.
  • The Commission checks the threshold every year. Its assessment of 30 September 2026 kept it at 50 tonnes.

The authorised CBAM declarant

Only an authorised CBAM declarant may import CBAM goods above the threshold. An importer established in the EU applies to the competent authority of its Member State through the CBAM Registry before importing (Article 5). For an importer established outside the EU, its indirect customs representative must hold the status; an indirect customs representative acting for an EU importer may also agree to take it on (Article 5(1a) and (2)). Exporters outside the EU, including producers in Türkiye, are not declarants: read what CBAM means for Turkish exporters.

The quarterly holding requirement from 2027

From 2027, at the end of each quarter, a declarant must hold certificates covering at least 50 % of the embedded emissions of all goods it has imported since 1 January, taking the free allocation adjustment into account (Article 22(2)). It may calculate them on default values without the mark-up, or on the certificates it surrendered for the previous year where the goods have the same CN codes and countries of origin as in its last declaration.

A declarant that passes the 50-tonne threshold during the year must meet the requirement by the end of the quarter after the one in which it passed it (Article 22(2a)). In 2026 there is no quarterly requirement, because certificates are not on sale until February 2027.

Where the sources differ: the Commission’s Q&A (updated 27 May 2026) lists 31 March, 30 June, 31 October and 31 December as the check dates. The Regulation says “at the end of each quarter”, which makes the third date 30 September. This page follows the legal text.

Proposals that are not law yet

On 17 December 2025 the Commission proposed to extend CBAM to certain downstream goods and to add anti-circumvention rules, including a new Article 27a that would let it remove goods temporarily from the scope (COM(2025) 989), together with a Temporary Decarbonisation Fund (COM(2025) 990). On 9 October 2026 the Commission’s legislation page still lists them as proposals. None of the dates above depend on them.

CBAM calculator CBAM default values

Frequently asked questions

When is the first CBAM declaration due?
By 30 September 2027, for goods imported in 2026. The certificates for those goods must be surrendered by the same date. From then on the declaration is due every year by 30 September for the previous calendar year.

When can CBAM certificates be bought?
From 1 February 2027, on the common central platform, from the Member State where the authorised declarant is established. Certificates for 2026 imports are bought in 2027 at the quarterly 2026 price of the quarter in which the goods were imported.

Which certificate price applies to goods imported in 2026?
The price of the quarter of importation: €75.36 for Q1, €75.28 for Q2 and €82.32 for Q3 2026. The Q4 price is due on 4 January 2027. From 2027 the price is published weekly.

Do I have to hold certificates every quarter in 2026?
No. The quarterly holding requirement applies from 2027 (Article 22(2) of the Regulation, applying from 1 January 2027). The first check is at the end of March 2027.

What happens if an importer passes 50 tonnes during the year?
It becomes subject to all CBAM obligations for all goods it imported that year, including the first 50 tonnes. It needs authorised declarant status before it passes the threshold; importing above it without authorisation is penalised.

Did the 2025 simplification move the deadlines?
Yes. Regulation (EU) 2025/2083 moved the annual declaration and surrender from 31 May to 30 September, moved the start of certificate sales to 1 February 2027 and cut the quarterly holding from 80 % to 50 %.

When can producers outside the EU get their emissions verified?
Accredited verifiers can register in the CBAM Registry from 1 September 2026. The Commission’s verification timeline expects the first site visits from September 2026 and the first verification reports from January 2027, in time for the declarations due on 30 September 2027.

Official sources

Each source below was opened and checked on October 9, 2026.

General information about EU law, not legal, tax or customs advice. Only the texts published in the Official Journal of the European Union are authentic.

More CBAM guides

CBAM calculator Estimate embedded emissions, certificates and their cost, right in your browser. CBAM default values When default values apply, how the mark-up works, and the official values for goods from Türkiye. CBAM for Turkish exporters The data your EU buyer will ask for, verification, the TR ETS and a step-by-step checklist. CBAM software What Karbonet does for CBAM, what it does not do, and what it costs.

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