Green Export Compliance Field Notes Vol.2 | Manage carbon data like your books
[AI Summary] CBAM entered its definitive period in 2026. The first annual declaration and certificate surrender for goods imported in 2026 are due by 30 September 2027. An importer can only declare actual emissions if the data has been verified by an EU-accredited verifier; without verified actual values, it must use default values, which carry a rising mark-up and usually mean a higher carbon cost. For exporting factories, the key is not filling in a form at the end, but building MRV — monitoring, reporting and verification — now: an executable monitoring plan, a data trail that leads back to source documents, and internal quality control that will stand up to verification.
Key takeaways
- Key dates in CBAM’s 2026–2027 definitive period: who needs what, and when.
- Why the factory — the third-country operator — is the real owner of CBAM data.
- How to run the six-step MRV loop, build a monitoring data list, apply internal QA/QC and assemble a verification package.
2026–2027: key dates at a glance
| When | What happens | What it means for an exporting factory |
|---|---|---|
| 1 Jan 2026 | CBAM definitive period begins; importers bear the carbon cost of goods imported from 2026 | Data for products shipped in 2026 is the data needed for the 2027 declaration |
| 31 Mar 2026 | Importers expecting to exceed 50 tonnes a year must apply for authorised CBAM declarant status | Confirm whether your EU customer is authorised and who will declare |
| From Sep 2026 | First verifications begin to roll out (per workshop materials) | Book an accredited verifier early; the first verification requires a site visit |
| 1 Feb 2027 | Sale of CBAM certificates begins (for 2026 imports) | Customers start pricing their carbon cost and will ask for actual emissions data |
| 30 Sep 2027 | First annual declaration and certificate surrender for 2026 imports | Verified actual emissions data must reach the customer before this date |
Note: the verification start date follows the workshop materials; actual timing is subject to the European Commission and individual verifiers.
Why is the factory the real owner?
The declaration obligation sits with the EU importer, but the embedded emissions it declares come from the factory where the goods are made. To use actual values, the importer needs data verified by an accredited verifier. Without it, the importer must use the EU’s default values, which rise year by year with a mark-up and are usually less favourable than the factory’s real performance.
In other words, whether a factory can deliver verified actual data directly affects its customer’s carbon cost — and its own competitiveness for orders.
MRV is not one regulation but a way of working
“CBAM MRV" is a convenient shorthand. The requirements are spread across the main regulation and several implementing and delegated acts: emission calculation methods in (EU) 2025/2547, verification principles in (EU) 2025/2546, and verifier accreditation in (EU) 2025/2551. One common misunderstanding: “actual emissions" does not mean everything must be measured. It means emissions calculated from actual activity data under the applicable method, with parameters that may come from lab analysis, regulatory default parameters and other permitted sources.
