EU CBAM authorised declarant: how to apply, or use a customs representative

Since 1 January 2026, goods covered by the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) can only be imported into the EU by an authorised CBAM declarant, unless the 50-tonne yearly exemption covers the importer 3578. There are two ways to meet that rule: apply for the status yourself, or import through an indirect customs representative that holds it, a route that is our reading of the law for importers based in the EU (see below) 1. Importers that applied by 31 March 2026 can keep importing until the authority decides; anyone applying now has to wait for the decision before importing beyond the exemption 45. The rules are in the CBAM Regulation (Regulation (EU) 2023/956) and the procedure in Implementing Regulation (EU) 2025/486 6. Our CBAM hub explains the mechanism as a whole.

Do I need to be an authorised CBAM declarant?

You need the status if you import CBAM goods yourself and the 50-tonne exemption doesn't cover you; whether importing through a representative that holds the status spares you your own application is our reading, set out in the next section 235. The exemption applies when the net mass of all CBAM goods you import in a calendar year stays at or under 50 tonnes 23. It never applies to electricity or hydrogen 2. Customs authorities don't let anyone else import CBAM goods 8. Our explainer on the 50-tonne threshold walks through the test.

If the exemption covers you today, you must apply once you expect to exceed the threshold 1. A company counts as established in an EU country if its registered office, central headquarters or permanent business establishment is there 9. If your company isn't established in the EU, the exemption doesn't spare you a representative: the indirect customs representative that imports for you must hold the status even when the exemption covers you 1. Crossing the threshold brings every tonne you imported that calendar year under CBAM, not only the tonnes above it 2.

Electricity importers that hold explicitly allocated cross-border capacity and nominate it for import are treated as authorised CBAM declarants without applying 1. Within one month of the customs declaration, they send the competent authority, the body each EU country designates to run CBAM, their details and documents showing the capacity 1011.

Should I apply myself or use an indirect customs representative?

It depends on where your company is established. If it is established in an EU country, you can apply yourself 1. If it isn't established in the EU, you can't 4: the indirect customs representative that imports for you must hold the status 1.

From 21 September 2027, a new Union Customs Code (Regulation (EU) 2026/2108) applies and repeals the current one, Regulation (EU) No 952/2013 1213. Under its Article 33(3), an indirect customs representative acting in its own name on behalf of an importer not established in the EU's customs territory "shall be considered to be the importer" for the purposes of its Article 27(2) 1415. Article 27(2) lists the importer's obligations under customs law, such as giving customs authorities the information they require and ensuring payment of customs duties and other charges 15.

Our reading: a company established in an EU country can also appoint an indirect customs representative, a customs agent that lodges the customs declaration for you, which holds the status and agrees to act as your authorised CBAM declarant, and import through it instead of applying 19. The law says such a representative acts as the authorised CBAM declarant for the importer that appointed it 1. But Article 5(1) still tells every importer established in an EU country to apply before importing, with no exception for this case 1. Commission guidance, not law: "Importers of CBAM goods, or their indirect customs representatives, are urged to apply" for the status 16.

The representative takes on your CBAM obligations for the goods it imports for you 1. Those include the yearly CBAM declaration, with the number of certificates to surrender for those goods 117. A representative must hold the status even when the importer it acts for is exempt under the threshold 1.

Letting someone else file your declaration is a different thing. An authorised CBAM declarant can delegate the submission of its CBAM declarations to a person acting in its name, but stays responsible for its obligations 1.

Our reading: if your representative already holds the status, you can import through it without waiting for an authority's decision on your own application. If you apply after the 31 March 2026 cut-off, that is the only way to import CBAM goods beyond the exemption before your own application is decided 145.

How do I apply, and what goes in the application?

You apply electronically through the CBAM registry, to the competent authority of the EU country where you are established 146. An application lodged in a country where you aren't established is refused 18. The Commission's list of competent authorities names the authority for each EU country 19.

Commission guidance, not law: you apply in the registry's Authorisation Management Module, and every user needs an EU Login account with two-factor authentication 16. The form has three tabs: stakeholder details, activity details, and financial and operational details 16.

Before you start, gather what the application must contain 1:

• ☐ Your name, address and contact information 1
• ☐ Your Economic Operators Registration and Identification (EORI) number, the number customs gives you when you register for customs purposes 19
• ☐ Your main economic activity in the EU 1
• ☐ A certificate from the tax authority in your EU country that you have no outstanding recovery order for national tax debts 1
• ☐ A declaration of honour that you weren't involved in serious or repeated infringements of customs, tax or market abuse rules in the five years before the year you apply, and have no record of serious criminal offences linked to your business 1
• ☐ Information showing your financial and operational capacity; if the authority asks after a risk assessment, documents such as your profit and loss account and balance sheet for up to the last three closed financial years 1
• ☐ Your estimated imports of CBAM goods, by type of goods and EU country of import, for this calendar year and the next 1
• ☐ Your authorised economic operator (AEO) certificate number, if customs has granted you that status 1
• ☐ If you are a representative, the names and contact information of the importers you act for 1

What does the authority check?

The authority grants the status if four criteria are met: no serious or repeated infringements, the financial and operational capacity to meet your CBAM obligations, establishment in the EU country where you apply, and an EORI number 4. On infringements, there must be no decision finding that you, or the people who run your company or its CBAM matters, committed serious or repeated infringements in the three years before the application, and no record of serious criminal offences linked to the business in the five years before it 20. On capacity, you must not be in bankruptcy proceedings or in material arrears with customs duties, taxes or charges on imports, and you need enough financial standing and internal controls to get your CBAM declarations and certificates right 21.

The authority refuses the application if a criterion isn't met or information from the list is missing, and it must give its reasons and say how to appeal 4. Before refusing, it tells you why and gives you up to 30 calendar days to comment 22.

How long does the decision take?

The authority has 120 calendar days from receiving your application to assess it 18. If it asks you for more information, you get up to 30 calendar days to reply, and the whole assessment can then take up to 180 calendar days 23. If you ask to change your application and the authority has to reassess it, it can add 30 calendar days 24. The authority can also consult other EU countries' authorities and the Commission; the CBAM Regulation caps that consultation at 15 calendar days 4.

The decision takes effect when the authority registers it in the CBAM registry and notifies you there 25. If you owe a guarantee, it takes effect only on the day the guarantee is registered 25. The status is recognised in all EU countries, and the Commission opens your CBAM account as soon as the status is granted 426.

When do I need a guarantee?

You need a guarantee if your company wasn't established throughout the two financial years before the year you apply 4. The authority sets the amount at the value of the CBAM certificates you would have to surrender for the imports you estimated in your application, after the adjustment for free EU Emissions Trading System (EU ETS) allowances 4. It must be a bank guarantee payable at first demand from a financial institution operating in the EU, or another form that gives the same assurance 4.

You provide the guarantee to the competent authority, which registers it in the CBAM registry 27. You must keep it high enough to cover the certificates you would have to surrender for what you actually import, at all times 28. If the authority asks you to adjust it, you have up to two months, which it can extend to no more than three months; if you miss that, it starts the procedure to revoke your status 29. The authority releases the guarantee immediately after 30 September of the second year in which you have surrendered certificates 4.

Pending, not law: Commission proposal COM(2025) 989 would let authorities require a guarantee in more cases, such as when an applicant or declarant doesn't show its financial capacity, and would have representatives give the EORI number, or another national identification number, of each importer they act for 30. Our Decode on the downstream proposal follows it.

What if I applied by 31 March 2026, or apply now?

The cut-off date decides whether you could import while your application was open 4.

What happens if I import without the status?

Customs authorities must not let the goods in 8. The basic penalty, for an authorised CBAM declarant that misses a certificate, equals the EU ETS excess emissions penalty for each certificate not surrendered 31. A person who isn't an authorised CBAM declarant and brings CBAM goods into the EU without meeting the obligations pays three to five times the basic penalty for each certificate not surrendered 31. An importer without the status that exceeds the 50-tonne threshold pays the same, counting all the emissions in its imports that calendar year 331. The CBAM hub sets out the penalties in full.

What to do

1. Check whether the 50-tonne exemption covers you this year, and whether you expect to exceed it; it never covers electricity or hydrogen 123. If your company is established in the EU and the exemption covers you, you don't need the status 12.
2. Choose your route 1.

• If your company is established in an EU country, you can apply yourself, or, on our reading of the law, import through an indirect customs representative that holds the status.
• If your company isn't established in the EU, you must import through an indirect customs representative that holds the status, even under the threshold.

1. If you apply yourself, gather the information in the checklist above and check whether you owe a guarantee 14.
2. Apply through the CBAM registry before your first import that needs the status, and plan for up to 180 calendar days for the decision 123.
3. Once authorised, tell the competent authority through the registry, without delay, about any change to the information in your application that may affect your authorisation 1.
4. Submit a CBAM declaration by 30 September each year for the year before, the first time in 2027 for 2026 17. Our guide to CBAM certificates covers buying and surrendering them.

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