EU CBAM 50-tonne threshold: does it apply to you, and what if you cross it?

If the CBAM goods you import, other than electricity and hydrogen, add up to 50 tonnes of net mass or less in a calendar year, you are exempt from the obligations of the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) for that year 47. Go over, and every obligation applies to all the goods you imported that year, from the first shipment 4. CBAM covers imports of cement, iron and steel, aluminium, fertilisers, electricity and hydrogen, under the CBAM Regulation (Regulation (EU) 2023/956) 2. Our CBAM overview explains the rest of the system.

The threshold takes most importers out of CBAM 9. In its proposal of 17 December 2025, the Commission estimates that it excludes around 182,000 of them 10.

Does CBAM apply to me?

Answer these five questions in order. Each one ends in a result and the reason for it.

1. Do you import goods listed in Annex I of the CBAM Regulation? Annex I lists the goods by their Combined Nomenclature (CN) code, the EU's customs product code, in six sectors: cement, electricity, fertilisers, iron and steel, aluminium and hydrogen 2. Importing means releasing the goods for free circulation in the EU 5. If you import none of these goods, CBAM doesn't apply to you. If you do, go on to the next question.
2. Do the goods originate in Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway or Switzerland, or in Büsingen, Heligoland, Livigno, Ceuta or Melilla? If so, CBAM doesn't apply to those goods 13. Goods moved or used for military activities, in the narrow sense the EU customs rules give that term in Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2015/2446, are outside CBAM too 1. The Commission's guidance says this covers goods moved between military forces, not goods a company sells to EU military forces, so CBAM applies to those 11. For goods from anywhere else outside the EU, go on to the next question.
3. Is any of it electricity or hydrogen? The threshold never applies to imports of electricity or hydrogen 4. The Commission's guidance says importers of electricity and hydrogen must always be authorised CBAM declarants 11. An authorised CBAM declarant is a company its national authority has authorised to import CBAM goods 56. For your other CBAM goods, go on to the next question.
4. Is your company established in an EU country? If not, you can't hold the status yourself, because it goes only to an applicant established in the EU country where it applies 12. You need an indirect customs representative, which lodges the customs declaration on your behalf and must hold the status of authorised CBAM declarant even if the threshold exempts you 58. The Commission's guidance says importers outside the EU must appoint one 11. Either way, go on to the next question to see whether CBAM obligations apply to your imports.
5. Will your CBAM goods other than electricity and hydrogen, all CN codes together, add up to more than 50 tonnes of net mass this calendar year? 47 If not, you are exempt for that year and declare the exemption in each customs declaration 47. If they will, all obligations apply to the whole year's imports 4. If you expect them to, a company established in an EU country must apply to become an authorised CBAM declarant 8. A company established outside the EU can't get the status: its indirect customs representative holds the status and takes on the obligations for the goods it imports for that company 812.

What counts towards the 50 tonnes?

All the CBAM goods you import in a calendar year count, except electricity and hydrogen, added up by net mass across every CN code 47. Four points decide what goes into your total:

• Goods an indirect customs representative declares for you count as your imports, just like those you declare yourself 59.
• Returned goods of non-EU origin count, even if their declared embedded emissions (the greenhouse gases released in making goods, including from producing the electricity used) are zero, according to the Commission's guidance 511.
• Packaging counts when its CN code is given in the customs declaration and appears in Annex I, according to the same guidance 11.
• Holding the status of authorised CBAM declarant doesn't take the exemption away: a declarant that stays at or under the threshold is exempt too 4.

Does CBAM apply to finished goods?

Only to those listed in Annex I. The list includes some finished articles, such as screws, bolts and nuts of iron or steel, steel and aluminium structures, and other articles of iron, steel or aluminium 2. A Commission proposal would extend CBAM to more steel- and aluminium-intensive downstream goods from 1 January 2028 10. It is a proposal, not law. Our Decode on the downstream proposal follows it.

Is the threshold per company or per group?

The law counts per importer: the person that lodges the customs declaration in its own name, or the client of an indirect customs representative 45. The Commission's guidance says CBAM goods are attributed to a declarant through the Economic Operators Registration and Identification (EORI) number, so subsidiaries with different EORI numbers declare separately by default 11. Neither text says how the threshold applies across a group. Our reading: each importing company counts its own imports, but an arrangement set up to stay under the threshold without valid commercial reasons is disregarded under the anti-splitting rule in Article 25a(4) 13.

What happens when I cross 50 tonnes?

Every obligation then applies to all the emissions embedded in all the goods you imported that calendar year, including those imported before you crossed 4.

As an authorised CBAM declarant, you then have these obligations:

• You submit a CBAM declaration for the year by 30 September of the following year, including the goods imported below the threshold; the first is due by 30 September 2027, for 2026 14.
• By the same date, you surrender CBAM certificates, each covering one tonne of CO₂ equivalent (CO₂e) embedded in the goods 515.
• From 2027, your account must hold certificates for at least 50% of the embedded emissions imported since the start of the year at the end of each quarter, and after crossing the threshold you must meet this by the end of the following quarter 15.
• If you bought certificates expecting to cross and then didn't, all of them are bought back at your request 16.

If you already hold the status but haven't crossed yet, the Commission's guidance says to use document code Y137 in the customs declaration only while you don't expect to exceed the threshold, and code Y128 with your CBAM account number from the moment you know you will 11.

One question stays open. The goods you declared as exempt before crossing count towards the year's obligations, but we found no rule in the Regulation or the Commission's guidance on whether those earlier customs declarations must be corrected 414.

What if I cross it without authorisation?

You face a penalty of three to five times the standard CBAM penalty for each certificate you should have surrendered, counted on all the emissions in that year's imports 17. The standard penalty is the excess emissions penalty of the EU Emissions Trading System (EU ETS) for the year of import: €100 per tonne of CO₂e, rising with the European index of consumer prices for allowances issued from 1 January 2013 1718. The EU ETS Directive doesn't state today's indexed amount, so we don't give one here 18.

One exception applies in 2026. If you applied for the status by 31 March 2026, you may keep importing until the competent authority, the authority each EU country designates for CBAM, decides on your application, even above the threshold 5912. If it refuses, the penalty applies to your imports from 1 January 2026 to the date of its decision 1217.

The competent authority in your EU country works out the certificates due from the net mass of the goods and default values for their embedded emissions 17. Default values are figures, calculated or drawn from secondary data, that stand for the embedded emissions in goods 5. The count takes into account the adjustment for free allocation, which reflects how far EU ETS allowances are allocated free of charge 1417. Within the range of three to five times, the authority weighs the duration, gravity, scope, intent and repetition of the breach, and how far you cooperated 17. Paying the penalty releases you from declaring and surrendering certificates for those imports 17.

The authority can lower the penalty, though not below the standard one, in two cases: you went over by no more than 10% of the threshold, or you applied for authorisation by 31 March 2026, kept importing while waiting and were refused 1217. Our CBAM overview covers the other CBAM penalties.

What else happens after crossing?

The competent authority adopts a decision that you exceeded the threshold and tells you to get the status of authorised CBAM declarant before importing any more goods 13. An appeal against that decision doesn't suspend it 13. Customs authorities don't let anyone other than an authorised CBAM declarant import CBAM goods, except under the exemption 19.

Can I split imports to stay under?

No. The Commission monitors imports against the threshold and shares with the competent authorities a list of importers above 90% of it 13. An arrangement set up for the main purpose, or one of the main purposes, of staying under the threshold, without valid commercial reasons, is disregarded when the authority decides whether you crossed it 13. The authority then treats you as having committed a serious infringement of the Regulation, both for the penalty and for any application for authorisation 13.

How does crossing the threshold work in practice?

Example. The figures are made up to show how the rules work 21. A company established in an EU country imports steel and aluminium goods in its own name and isn't an authorised CBAM declarant 21. In March 2026, it imports 30 tonnes of steel screws (CN heading 7318) and declares the exemption in the customs declaration 21. In October 2026, it imports 25 tonnes of aluminium bars (CN heading 7604), which takes its 2026 total to 55 tonnes 21.

Here is what follows:

1. The March screws count too: once over 50 tonnes, CBAM covers all the goods imported that year 47.
2. At 55 tonnes, the company is above 45 tonnes, which is 90% of the threshold and the level at which the Commission lists importers for the competent authorities 1321.
3. It should have applied for authorisation when it expected to exceed the threshold, and held the status before the October import 89.
4. Without the status, it faces a penalty of three to five times the standard penalty for each certificate due on the emissions in all 55 tonnes, worked out from default values and after the adjustment for free allocation 1721.
5. It went over by 5 tonnes, which is no more than 10% of the threshold, so the authority may reduce the penalty, though not below the standard one 1721.
6. It must get the status before importing any more CBAM goods 13.

We don't put a euro figure on the penalty. It depends on the indexed EU ETS penalty, which the Directive doesn't state, and on the embedded emissions of the goods. Had the company held the status in time, it would declare all 55 tonnes and surrender the certificates by 30 September 2027 141521.

What should I do?

Work through these steps once a year, and again whenever your import plans change:

1. Add up your imports. Total the net mass of all the CBAM goods other than electricity and hydrogen that you import in the calendar year, under all CN codes, including the goods an indirect customs representative declares for you 49.
2. If you will stay at or under 50 tonnes, declare the exemption in each customs declaration 47.
3. If you expect to go over, you must apply for the status of authorised CBAM declarant through the CBAM registry, to the competent authority of the EU country where you are established 812. Or you can import through an indirect customs representative that holds the status and agrees to act for you 8. If your company isn't established in the EU, the representative is the only route 811. Aim to hold the status before the import that takes you over 9. Our guide to becoming an authorised CBAM declarant covers the application.
4. Once you are over, collect the embedded emissions data for the year's goods, because your declaration must state them 14. Our guide to default values and actual emissions explains the choice. Then declare and surrender certificates by 30 September of the following year 1415.
5. If you bought certificates and stayed under, ask for all of them to be bought back 16.

This is general information, not legal advice. For decisions about your company, check with a lawyer or adviser.

Can the threshold change?

Yes. By 30 April each year, the Commission checks, on the previous 12 months of import data, whether the exemption covers no more than 1% of the emissions embedded in imports 4. It changes the threshold by delegated act only if its calculation differs from the current threshold by more than 15 tonnes, and a new threshold applies from 1 January of the following year 4. Annex VII sets the method, with a target share of 99% of emissions in the aluminium, cement, fertiliser, and iron and steel sectors, a margin of a quarter of a percentage point added to it, and the result rounded to the nearest ten tonnes 7.

The Commission's assessment of 30 September 2026 found that, for April 2025 to March 2026, the 50-tonne threshold would exempt 0.87% of embedded emissions, below the 1% limit 20.