Glossary
CBAM 50-tonne threshold
The small-importer exemption under the EU's Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM): an importer whose CBAM goods total no more than 50 tonnes of net mass in a calendar year is exempt from CBAM's obligations that year. Electricity and hydrogen never qualify.
- Legal source
- CBAM Regulation, Article 2a(1) ↗
- Who it applies to
- Every importer of CBAM goods, including authorised CBAM declarants. It never covers imports of electricity or hydrogen.
- Example
- An importer established in an EU country brings in 20 tonnes of steel screws and 20 tonnes of aluminium bars in 2026, and no other CBAM goods. Its 40 tonnes don't exceed 50, so it is exempt for 2026 and declares the exemption in its customs declarations.
- Also known as
- single mass-based threshold, CBAM minimum threshold
The law calls it the single mass-based threshold, and the heading of Article 2a calls the rule the de minimis exemption. It counts the total net mass of goods under all
An importer that exceeds it during the year carries all CBAM obligations for all emissions embedded in all goods it imported that year, not only for the goods above 50 tonnes. By 30 April each year, the Commission checks whether the threshold leaves no more than 1% of embedded emissions exempt. If the result differs from the threshold by more than 15 tonnes, the Commission amends it by delegated act, and the new threshold applies from 1 January of the following year.
Our threshold explainer shows how to check your imports, and our Decode of the simplification explains the change that brought the threshold in.
Regulations
Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM)
Implementing Regulation (EU) 2026/1740 corrected Annexes I and IV of the default values act, Implementing Regulation (EU) 2025/2621
Used in
EU CBAM authorised declarant: how to apply, or use a customs representative
Beyond the 50-tonne exemption, only authorised declarants can import CBAM goods into the EU. How to apply, the guarantee, and the representative route.
EU CBAM certificate price: how certificates work and what they cost
How the EU CBAM certificate price is set, when you can buy, the 50% quarterly holding rule, surrender by 30 September 2027, and a worked cost example.
EU CBAM default values or actual emissions: which to use, and how embedded emissions are calculated
Under the EU CBAM, you declare embedded emissions from verified supplier data or from default values with a mark-up. How to choose, and what to ask suppliers.
EU CBAM 50-tonne threshold: does it apply to you, and what if you cross it?
At 50 tonnes or less a year of CBAM goods (not electricity or hydrogen), you're exempt from the EU CBAM. What counts, and the penalty for crossing unauthorised.
EU CBAM downstream products: what the proposed extension covers, for whom and from when
The Commission proposes adding downstream steel and aluminium goods to EU CBAM from 1 January 2028. Check the CN codes, who it affects and where it stands.