Regulation · 2026.10.28 · 13 min read

CBAM Declaration: Importer or Exporter? Who Is Responsible

Q: Who files CBAM if the importer is outside the EU?

An indirect customs representative based in the EU.[1] It must act as the authorised declarant and carries the CBAM obligations.[1]

Q: When must an importer apply for authorised declarant status?

Before its imports go over 50 tonnes in the year.[3][4] It applies online through the CBAM Registry. The NCA in its EU country decides.[1] Per Ireland's NCA, the law gives the NCA 120 days, or 180 days if it needs more information.[2]

Q: What happens if an importer goes over 50 tonnes without approval?

Customs must not let it import CBAM goods.[1] Ireland's NCA says import restrictions and penalties will apply.[2]

The EU importer or its customs agent files CBAM, not the non-EU exporter. Who must apply, how the 50-tonne limit works, and what exporters should do.

In three lines

01
The EU importer, or its EU customs agent, files the CBAM declaration and buys the certificates. The exporter outside the EU does not.^[1]
02
For most CBAM goods, an importer needs EU approval once its imports go over 50 tonnes in a year. It must apply before it goes over.^[1]^[3]
03
If your company is the importer and is not established in the EU, an EU customs agent must act as declarant. Settle who does what in your contract.^[1]

The short answer: your EU customer files, and you decide what data to give

CBAM (Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism) is the EU's charge on the carbon released in making steel, aluminium and a few other goods. Since 1 January 2026, its full rules apply.^[1] An importer that brings in more than 50 tonnes of CBAM goods a year must now be approved to import them.^[1]

The importer pays through CBAM certificates. These are what the declarant buys to cover the carbon in its imports.^[1] They go on sale on 1 February 2027.^[1]

Many exporters outside the EU now hear: "You need to do your CBAM declaration." That's not quite right.

The company that files is called the authorised CBAM declarant. The EU has approved it to file CBAM declarations and to surrender certificates, which means handing them in to cover the carbon.^[1] It files one CBAM declaration a year, by 30 September.^[1] The first one, for 2026 imports, is due by 30 September 2027.^[1] By the same date, it hands in certificates for the carbon it declared.^[1]

The declarant is always on the EU side of the border. It's either the importer or an EU customs agent acting for the importer.^[1] The Commission's guidance gives the declaration and the certificates to the declarant only. It gives the producer outside the EU no declaration to file.^[1]

What your customer will expect from you is data. Only the producer that made the goods can measure its carbon under CBAM rules and have it verified.^[1] Whether to do that is your choice.^[1] If you don't, your customer must use default values: standard figures for use when there are no measured numbers. They carry a mark-up.^[1] Post 1 explains that data in detail: CBAM supplier data requirements.

Who exactly is the "authorised CBAM declarant"?

Two different forms come up in this section. The customs declaration is the form used to clear goods into the EU.^[1] The CBAM declaration is the yearly carbon report described in section 1.^[1]

Who is the CBAM declarant depends on two things: who lodges the customs declaration, and where the importer is based.^[1] Whoever puts its CBAM account number on the customs declaration is the CBAM declarant.^[1]

The importer is based in the EU

If the importer lodges the customs declaration itself, the importer is the declarant.^[1]
It can instead use an indirect customs representative. That's a customs agent that lodges the customs declaration under its own name, working for the importer.^[1]
If that agent agrees to take on CBAM, the agent becomes the declarant for those goods.^[1]
The agent can say no. Then it must tell the importer, and the importer must meet the CBAM obligations itself.^[1]
A direct customs representative works in the importer's name. If the importer uses one, the importer stays the declarant.^[1]

The importer is not based in the EU

It must appoint an indirect customs representative based in the EU.^[1]^[2]
That representative must act as the declarant. It can't refuse the CBAM role in this case.^[1]

Help is allowed, but responsibility doesn't move

A declarant can let a service provider help prepare and submit the declaration.^[1]
Legal responsibility stays with the declarant.^[1]
The declarant is the only one legally responsible for what's in the declaration.^[1]
That includes the verification report: a check of the plant's carbon figures by an outside verifier.^[1]
A verification report may contain a mistake that changes the number of certificates. Then the declarant may have to pay a penalty.^[1]
Each EU country has a CBAM authority, called the national competent authority (NCA).^[1]
The NCA may lower the penalty if the mistake came from someone else's wrong information, such as the verifier's.^[1]

One more rule worth knowing

For goods on one customs declaration, only one indirect representative can be the declarant.^[1]
An importer can use different agents for different goods. Each agent answers for its own goods.^[1]

The 50-tonne threshold: when does an importer need approval?

Small importers of most CBAM goods are left out of CBAM.^[1] The rule is one limit of 50 tonnes per importer per calendar year.^[4]^[3]^[1]

How the limit works

It's one limit for all of the importer's CBAM goods together, not one per product.^[1]^[3]
It's measured by net mass, as declared on the customs declarations.^[1]
At or below 50 tonnes a year, the importer doesn't need approval. The CBAM rules don't apply to those imports.^[1]^[4]
Once its imports go over 50 tonnes in a year, the importer is subject to all CBAM obligations.^[1]
Hydrogen and electricity are different. The 50-tonne limit doesn't apply to them. Importers of these always need approval, however small the amount.^[1]^[3]

What counts toward the 50 tonnes

The whole item. Say you ship a product that is mostly metal but has some non-metal parts. If customs classifies it as a CBAM good, its whole declared net mass counts toward 50 tonnes. Carbon is counted for the metal part only.^[1]
Returned goods. Goods of non-EU origin that come back to the EU count toward the limit. This holds even if their declared carbon is zero.^[1]

Apply before you cross, not after

The application must go in before the importer's imports go over 50 tonnes.^[3]^[4] Ireland's NCA advises EU-based indirect customs representatives to apply now.^[2] That advice holds even if the importers they act for stay under the limit.^[2]

Is the limit changing?

On 30 September 2026, the Commission published its check of the limit.^[5] For April 2025 to March 2026, 50 tonnes left out 0.87% of the carbon in imports. The law's ceiling is 1%.^[5] The page doesn't announce any change to the limit.^[5] So for now, plan around 50 tonnes.

How quickly does 50 tonnes add up? (hypothetical example)

This is a made-up example. The tonnages are assumptions.

An EU distributor buys 20 tonnes of CBAM steel goods a year from a Korean maker.
It also buys 35 tonnes of CBAM aluminium goods from another country.
Each supplier alone is under 50 tonnes, but the importer's total is 55 tonnes.
So the importer needs approval, and both suppliers may be asked for carbon data.

How does an importer get approved, and what if it isn't?

Where to apply

Applications go in online, through the CBAM Registry. That's the EU's IT system for CBAM.^[1]
The NCA in the EU country where the applicant is established decides.^[1]
The Commission publishes the list of NCAs on its CBAM pages.^[6]^[1]
The decision takes effect once it's recorded in the Registry.^[1]

What the NCA checks^[1]

No serious or repeated breaches of customs, tax, market-abuse or CBAM rules
Financial and operational capacity
The applicant is established in that EU country
It has an EORI number (the EU customs ID for businesses)

How long it takes

Ireland's NCA says the law gives the NCA 120 days to decide.^[2]
That becomes 180 days if the NCA needs more information.^[2]
So an importer close to 50 tonnes should apply well before it gets there.

The 31 March 2026 rule has passed

The 2025 law that simplified CBAM included a one-off grace period.^[4] Importers and customs agents that applied by 31 March 2026 could keep importing in 2026 while waiting for a decision.^[4] This held even after they went over 50 tonnes.^[4] That deadline has passed, so the grace period doesn't cover new applications.

What happens without approval

Above 50 tonnes, or for hydrogen and electricity, only an authorised declarant may import CBAM goods.^[1]
Customs must refuse anyone else. This is Article 25 of the CBAM Regulation.^[1]
Ireland's NCA says an importer that goes over the limit without approval faces CBAM import restrictions and penalties.^[2]
Penalties are imposed by the NCA.^[1]

The CBAM codes on customs declarations

Your customer's customs declarations carry a code for its CBAM status: Y137 (not expecting to go over 50 tonnes), Y238 (applied, no decision yet) or Y128 (approved, with its CBAM account number).^[1]^[2] These codes are your customer's or its customs agent's job. You don't need to do anything with them.

What you do as the producer, and what you don't

You don't

file a CBAM declaration^[1]
buy or hand in CBAM certificates^[1]
need EU approval as a declarant^[1]

You may

measure your plant's carbon under CBAM rules and have it verified. Only the producer can choose to do this.^[1]
register your plant in the CBAM Registry. It's optional for now and not required in 2027. The Commission recommends it.^[1]^[7]
share data through the Registry with several customers. Each customer sees a summary.^[7]

If you don't register, you can still send your numbers to customers directly. The customer then uploads them itself.^[1] Producers outside the EU log in to the Registry through the Commission's EU-Access platform.^[1]

Watch out

The Commission says importers should get verified numbers only from the plant that made the goods.^[1] If anyone else offers your customer a verification report, it is "likely a scam".^[1]

If you ship DDP or import in your own name

Some Korean exporters sell on "delivered duty paid" (DDP) terms, where the seller handles import duties at the destination. Others clear goods in the EU in their own name. Then the exporter may be the importer on the EU customs declaration.

The Commission's CBAM guidance doesn't mention DDP or any other Incoterm.^[1] What counts is who the importer is on the customs declaration, and where it's based.^[1]

Your company is the importer and isn't based in the EU

You can't be the declarant yourself.^[1]
You must appoint an indirect customs representative based in the EU.^[1]^[2]
That agent must act as declarant and carries the CBAM obligations for those goods.^[1]
The agent is likely to ask you for your plant's carbon data to file.

Your company has an EU subsidiary or branch that imports

If it counts as a "person" under the CBAM Regulation (Article 3(18)), it applies to the NCA of the EU country where it's based.^[1]
If the branch doesn't count as a "person", neither it nor the parent can be the declarant. An indirect representative is needed.^[1]
Whether your branch counts is a legal question. Check it with an EU adviser.

What to agree with your EU customer

CBAM puts the filing on your customer, but the inputs come from you. So it pays to write down who does what. These are points to discuss, not legal text. Have your own lawyer draft the clauses.

Questions to ask your customer

01
Who is the CBAM declarant for our goods: you, or your customs agent?
02
Are you already approved, and in which EU country?
03
Do your yearly CBAM imports go over 50 tonnes?
04
Do you want measured, verified numbers from our plant, or will you declare on default values?
05
By when do you need our 2026 data for your declaration due 30 September 2027?^[1]

Points to settle in the contract

Data: what plant data you provide, in what form, and by when.
Confidentiality: how your customer may use and share your plant data.
Cost: who carries the CBAM cost, and whether price changes if you deliver verified numbers.
Errors: what happens if your data turns out wrong. Your customer is liable to the NCA, so it may ask you for a warranty.^[1]
Incoterms: whether you or your customer is the importer (see section 6).

What you can check first with Federation

Federation can check first whether your products fall under CBAM.

Book a consultation and check whether your products fall under CBAM →

Questions

FAQ

The questions customers and suppliers ask most.

Q1Is the importer or the exporter responsible for the CBAM declaration?

The importer, or its indirect customs representative. That company is the "authorised CBAM declarant".^[1] If the importer is not established in the EU, an EU-based indirect customs representative must be the declarant.^[1] The producer or exporter outside the EU doesn't file a declaration.^[1] Its customer will likely ask it for plant data. Without that data, the customer uses default values.^[1]

Q2Can my EU customer make me, the exporter, responsible for its CBAM declaration?

Not under the CBAM rules. The declarant stays legally responsible, even if someone else prepares the filing.^[1] Your customer can ask you for data, and for promises about that data in your contract. That's a commercial matter, not a CBAM duty.

Q3Who files CBAM if the importer is outside the EU?

An indirect customs representative based in the EU.^[1] It must act as the authorised declarant and carries the CBAM obligations.^[1]

Q4How does the CBAM 50-tonne threshold work?

It's one limit per importer per calendar year, across all its CBAM goods, measured by net mass.^[1]^[3]^[4] At or below 50 tonnes, no approval is needed. Hydrogen and electricity always need approval.^[1]

Q5When must an importer apply for authorised declarant status?

Before its imports go over 50 tonnes in the year.^[3]^[4] It applies online through the CBAM Registry. The NCA in its EU country decides.^[1] Per Ireland's NCA, the law gives the NCA 120 days, or 180 days if it needs more information.^[2]

Q6What happens if an importer goes over 50 tonnes without approval?

Customs must not let it import CBAM goods.^[1] Ireland's NCA says import restrictions and penalties will apply.^[2]

Q7Do samples count toward the 50 tonnes?

Not if they enter under temporary admission, for example samples sent for testing.^[1] Those goods aren't released for free circulation, so CBAM doesn't apply to them.^[1] Goods that are released for free circulation do count. That includes returned goods of non-EU origin.^[1]

Plain words

Glossary

27 terms from this article, in plain words.

CBAM (Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism): ^[1]; The EU's charge on the carbon released in making certain goods imported into the EU. Its full rules apply from 1 January 2026.
Authorised CBAM declarant: ^[1]; The company the EU has approved to file CBAM declarations and surrender certificates. Either the importer or its indirect customs representative.
Importer: ^[1]; The company named as importer on the EU customs declaration. If it lodges the declaration in its own name, it is the CBAM declarant.
Producer (operator): ^[1]^[7]; The company that runs the plant where the goods are made. Only it can choose to measure its carbon under CBAM rules and have it verified.
Indirect customs representative: ^[1]; An EU-based customs agent that lodges the customs declaration under its own name, working for the importer. It can act as the CBAM declarant, and must do so for a non-EU importer.
Direct customs representative: ^[1]; A customs agent that works in the importer's name. The importer stays the CBAM declarant and stays liable.
National competent authority (NCA): ^[1]; The CBAM authority in each EU country. It approves declarants, may review declarations, checks compliance and can impose penalties.
CBAM Registry: ^[1]; The EU's online CBAM system. Declarants apply there and buy certificates there. Producers outside the EU may register there.
CBAM account number: ^[1]; The authorised declarant's number. Whoever puts it on the customs declaration is the CBAM declarant for those goods.
EU-Access platform: ^[1]; The Commission's login platform that producers outside the EU use to reach the CBAM Registry.
Customs declaration: ^[1]; The form used to clear goods into the EU. Not the same as the CBAM declaration.
CBAM declaration: ^[1]; The yearly report on the carbon in the previous year's imports. Due by 30 September.
CBAM certificate: ^[1]; What the declarant buys to cover the carbon in its imports, and surrenders by 30 September. On sale from 1 February 2027.
Surrender (certificates): ^[1]; Hand in certificates to cover the carbon declared.
50-tonne threshold: ^[1]^[3]; Importers whose CBAM goods stay at or below 50 tonnes a year don't need approval. Not for hydrogen or electricity.
Net mass: ^[1]; The mass of the goods as declared on the customs declaration. The 50-tonne limit uses it.
Calendar year: ^[3]; January to December. The 50-tonne limit counts each calendar year.
Default values: ^[1]; Standard figures the declarant must use when the producer has no measured, verified numbers. They include a mark-up.
Mark-up: ^[1]; The extra percentage on default values: 10% in 2026, 20% in 2027, 30% from 2028.
Verification report: ^[1]; A check of a plant's carbon figures by an outside verifier. Importers should get it only from the producer that made the goods.
EORI number: ^[1]; The EU customs ID number for a business. Applicants for declarant status must have one.
CBAM codes Y137 / Y238 / Y128: ^[1]; Codes on the EU customs declaration (TARIC document codes): not expecting to go over 50 t / application pending / approved and going over 50 t.
Release for free circulation: ^[1]; Clearing goods so they can be sold and used in the EU. CBAM applies to goods released this way.
Temporary admission: ^[1]; A customs procedure used, for example, for samples sent for testing. These goods aren't released for free circulation, so CBAM doesn't apply.
DDP (delivered duty paid): A delivery term where the seller handles import duties at the destination. General trade term, not a CBAM rule.
Incoterms: Standard trade terms that say who pays and handles each step of a shipment. General trade term, not a CBAM rule.
Regulation (EU) 2025/2083: ^[1]^[4]; The 2025 EU law that simplified CBAM for the definitive period. In force since 20 October 2025.

References

Sources

01
European Commission (DG TAXUD), CBAM Questions and Answers (Q1.1, 1.2, 1.10, 1.16, 1.18, 1.19, 2.1–2.3, 2.5, 2.6, 3.1, 4.25, 4.30, 5.9, 5.10–5.13, 7.1–7.5, 7.19, 7.22, 7.23). Last updated 15 Oct 2026, accessed 28 Oct 2026. https://taxation-customs.ec.europa.eu/document/download/013fa763-5dce-4726-a204-69fec04d5ce2_en?filename=CBAM_Questions%20and%20Answers.pdf
02
Environmental Protection Agency (Ireland, national competent authority), Authorisation: applying for and managing your authorisation. No page date, accessed 28 Oct 2026. https://www.epa.ie/our-services/licensing/climate-change/eu-carbon-border-adjustment-mechanism/authorisation---applying-for-and-managing-your-authorisation/
03
Environmental Protection Agency (Ireland), The EU Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM). No page date, accessed 28 Oct 2026. https://www.epa.ie/our-services/licensing/climate-change/eu-carbon-border-adjustment-mechanism/
04
European Parliament Legislative Observatory, summary of Regulation (EU) 2025/2083 (2025/0039(COD)). 17 Oct 2025, accessed 28 Oct 2026. https://oeil.europarl.europa.eu/oeil/en/document-summary?id=1853717
05
European Commission, CBAM De Minimis Threshold Assessment. 30 Sep 2026, accessed 28 Oct 2026. https://taxation-customs.ec.europa.eu/news/cbam-de-minimis-threshold-assessment-2026-09-30_en
06
European Commission, CBAM definitive regime (list of national competent authorities, 26 Jun 2026). Accessed 28 Oct 2026. https://taxation-customs.ec.europa.eu/carbon-border-adjustment-mechanism/cbam-definitive-regime_en
07
European Commission, Guidance No. 2: Quick guide for non-EU operators. 14 Aug 2026, accessed 27 Oct 2026. https://taxation-customs.ec.europa.eu/document/download/91e1056c-4524-4705-aaa7-e25c1439a87a_en

This article is general information, not legal or regulatory advice. For decisions about your company, check the EU texts and your national competent authority (NCA), or ask an expert. Numbers in the hypothetical example are assumptions for illustration. (As of 28 Oct 2026)

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