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From the transition period of October 1st, 2023, until December 31st, 2025, you must indicate your carbon footprint for the following imported goods:
The above categories are just main products. For example, bolts and nuts also fall under iron. From 2025, the EU may expand this group of goods with polymers (plastics) and chemicals.
You are obliged to report if you are established in the European Union and import (any of) the above products. If you are not established in the EU, the indirect customs representative is the reporting agent.
The following timeline applies to the actual implementation of the CBAM:
During the transition period, you report your carbon footprint in your quarterly reports to the EU. Your reporting obligation depends on the GN product code that your imported goods have.
Who monitors whether you comply with your reporting obligations?
During the transition period, the Dutch Emission Authority supervises. In addition, customs will notify you of your reporting obligation after October 1st, 2023. Failure to comply with your reporting obligation may result in fines.
Importing the above goods involves buying emission certificates. From January 1st, 2026, you must submit your annual declaration by May 31st of the following year and surrender the emission certificates corresponding to this carbon footprint. By that time, you must report on the CBAM trading portal that is yet to be developed.
On May 25th, 2023, the Dutch State Secretary of Finance submitted an amendment note to the Dutch House of Representatives proposing the implementation of the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) based on the above lines.
On June 13th, 2023, a draft implementing regulation was published at the European level, containing the reporting requirements where importers must report.
The amount of data you need to report is hefty, with 165 items in total. The most important are:
Over the first two reporting periods, the draft implementing regulation provides for the possibility of correction and regulation of any fine for non-compliance with your reporting obligation during the transition period (between 10 and 50 euros per ton of unreported CO2). In addition, this draft includes a proposal for detailed rules on embedded emissions that you must report and the use of standard values.
Before the start of the transition period, 1 October 2023, the final implementing regulation will be published first. The obligations, requirements, and reporting methods are not yet final.
Even though this legislation is not yet final, it is still important that you start mapping out your CBAM obligations and inform your foreign suppliers about the information you need from them to comply with your administrative and reporting obligations. This is a lot of work. We can help you with that.
