The CBAM 50-Tonne Threshold: Are Your Smaller EU Customers Exempt?

Since 1 January 2026, an importer in the EU whose CBAM goods total no more than 50 tonnes of net mass in a calendar year is exempt from all CBAM obligations. The total is counted per importer and across all CN codes. Once it goes over 50 tonnes, the importer is in scope for its entire year's imports. Electricity and hydrogen are excluded from the exemption. For a UK exporter, the obligation sits with the EU importer, but the threshold decides whether your customer needs anything from you.

Who carries the obligation when a UK firm sells into the EU

CBAM obligations fall on the importer, not the foreign seller. The consolidated Regulation (EU) 2023/956 defines the importer as the person who lodges the customs declaration for release for free circulation in its own name, or the person on whose behalf an indirect customs representative lodges it (Article 3(15)). In the regulation, a UK manufacturer is an "operator" of an installation in a third country.

The United Kingdom does not appear in Annex III, point 1, which lists the countries outside CBAM's scope: Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland. The territories of Büsingen, Heligoland, Livigno, Ceuta and Melilla are also listed. Goods of UK origin covered by Annex I are therefore in scope when imported into the EU. The CBAM knowledge base covers EU law only and contains nothing on any UK carbon border measure, so this article does not discuss one.

How the single mass-based threshold works

Article 2a was inserted by the Omnibus amendment, Regulation (EU) 2025/2083 of 8 October 2025. Annex VII sets the value: "The single mass-based threshold referred to in Article 2a shall be set at 50 tonnes of net mass."

• Per importer, per calendar year. The net mass of goods under all CN codes is added together (Art. 2a(1)).
• Across sectors. Recital 3 of Regulation 2025/2083 says the threshold applies cumulatively to goods in iron and steel, aluminium, fertilisers and cement.
• Whoever files. Under recital 7, imports count whether the importer declares them itself or uses an indirect customs representative.
• Declared, not assumed. An exempt importer must declare the exemption in the relevant customs declaration (Art. 2a(1)).
• All or nothing. If the threshold is exceeded, all obligations apply to all emissions in all goods imported that year (Art. 2a(2)).

An illustration using those rules: an Irish building-supplies wholesaler buys 20 tonnes of steel sheet piling (CN 7301) from a UK mill and 35 tonnes of nitrogenous fertiliser (CN 3102) from another supplier. Neither supplier ships more than 35 tonnes, but the wholesaler's total is 20 + 35 = 55 tonnes. The wholesaler is over the threshold for that year and needs emissions figures, or default values, for both products.

Old rule versus new rule: transitional and definitive periods

Recital 2 of the Omnibus regulation explains the switch. Transitional-period data showed that "only a small proportion of those importers account for the vast majority of emissions", and the EUR 150 rule was not proportionate. Recital 5 sets the policy target: the threshold should leave no more than 1% of embedded emissions exempt, so that at least 99% stay in scope.

Exceptions and traps

Electricity and hydrogen

"This Article shall not apply to imports of electricity or hydrogen" (Art. 2a(4)). A UK hydrogen producer's EU customers are in scope however small their purchases.

Indirect customs representatives

A representative acting in its own name for an importer must hold authorised CBAM declarant status "irrespective of whether the importer is exempted" (Art. 5(1a) and 5(2)). This is relevant if your UK company imports into the EU itself without an EU establishment. An importer not established in a Member State has to use an indirect customs representative, and that representative must be authorised.

Splitting and non-genuine arrangements

Competent authorities must disregard arrangements whose main purpose is to stay below the threshold and which are non-genuine. An importer found using one is treated as having committed a serious infringement (Art. 25a(4)). Article 27(2)(b) also names artificial splitting of imports as a form of circumvention. Sharing one buyer's volume across several group companies to stay under 50 tonnes is exactly the kind of practice these rules target.

Going over without authorisation

An importer that is not an authorised declarant and goes over the threshold faces a penalty of three to five times the standard surrender penalty, per certificate not surrendered, covering all its embedded emissions for the year (Art. 26(2) and (2a)). The authority may reduce it if the threshold was exceeded by no more than 10%, but not below the standard penalty. Recital 9 of Regulation 2025/2083 adds that customs should then block further imports by that importer until the year ends or it obtains authorisation.

2026, the first year under the threshold

Because 2026 is the first year of the definitive period, the Omnibus included a transitional safeguard. Under Article 17(7a), an importer or indirect customs representative that applied for authorisation by 31 March 2026 may provisionally continue importing until the competent authority decides. If the application is then refused, the authority calculates the emissions embedded in goods imported since 1 January 2026 using default values, and those emissions feed into the Article 26(2a) penalty calculation.

For importers in scope, the first annual CBAM declaration covering 2026 is due by 30 September 2027 (Art. 6(1)). That declaration must state the total quantity of each type of goods, "including the imported goods below the single mass-based threshold" (Art. 6(2)(a)). In other words, a customer that goes over the threshold declares every tonne it imported that year. A UK supplier's 2026 deliveries will therefore matter to that customer in 2027, even if they were only a small part of its purchases.

What a UK exporter should do with this

1. Confirm your products are CBAM goods. Check your CN codes against Annex I. The steel chapter covers many finished articles, such as tubes, structures, containers, screws and bolts, and other articles of iron or steel.
2. Segment EU customers by expected annual CBAM tonnage, counted across all their suppliers rather than just yours.
3. Prepare emissions data for customers above or near 50 tonnes. They need actual embedded emissions verified by an accredited verifier, or they will fall back on the Commission's default values.
4. Flag the threshold early to growing customers. Under Article 5(1b), an importer that expects to exceed the threshold must apply for authorisation. Recital 10 says it should hold that status before going over.
5. Note the 90% monitoring line. The Commission shares with competent authorities a list of importers that exceed 90% of the threshold (Art. 25a(1)).
6. Recheck the value every year. The Commission reviews the threshold by 30 April each year. A deviation of more than 15 tonnes leads to an amendment applying from the following 1 January (Art. 2a(3)).

This article sets out the EU rule and is not legal advice. Figures and dates are taken from the consolidated Regulation (EU) 2023/956 as at 20 October 2025, available in the EU CBAM knowledge base and on EUR-Lex.