CBAM accreditation: 24 bodies agreed, 16 ready, totals differ

A national accreditation body must accredit a verifierVerifierAccredited independent third party confirming the SEE is free of material misstatement; any EU or third-country legal person; only values in a verification report count for actuals. Importers receiving "verification reports" from third part before that verifier can issue a CBAM verification reportVerification reportSingle electronic Commission template via the CBAM Registry; minimum content: general identification, verification information (team, visits, materiality applied, data verification incl. FAA per good, precursor verification incl. precursor-. The Commission's table of CBAM accreditation shows which bodies are ready, and it changed again this week. For importers who want to use actual emissions, verifier capacity is the bottleneck.

The table is the best public picture of that capacity. We covered the first accredited verifier separately, in The first accredited CBAM verifier exists. This article covers the table.

What the table counts

The table counts national accreditation bodies at four stages: agreed, ready, open to applicants from outside the EU, and already accepting them.

The "ready" line does not add up. The totals row says 16, but counting the rows gives 17. The cause is probably a counting error in the table, so do not quote either figure without mentioning the difference.

The 1 September edition had 14 ready, so more bodies are opening. Greece's body, for example, changed from not ready to ready between the two editions.

Who is ready and who is not

• Ready to accept applications: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Spain and Sweden.
• Agreed, but not ready yet: Croatia, the Czech Republic and Hungary have no date. Romania and Slovakia are listed for October 2026, and Slovenia for November 2026. Norway has agreed and is marked not applicable.
• Not offering CBAM accreditation: Cyprus, Estonia, Ireland and Malta.

Outside the EU

Seven bodies have agreed to accredit verifiers from outside the EU: France, Greece, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Slovakia and Sweden. Five already take such applications: France, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland and Sweden.

The Netherlands lists an agreement with Türkiye's accreditation body, and Sweden lists one with Ukraine's. Slovakia will accept applications from October.

This matters because most CBAM goods are produced outside the EU, and the verifier must be able to reach the installation.

What it means for importers

• Capacity is still thin. The first verification reports can be issued from January 2027, and the first declaration is due on 30 September 2027. Every user of actual emissions will compete for the same verifiers in that window.
• Location matters. If you are in Hungary, your national body is not ready. Verifiers accredited elsewhere in the EU can still work for you. Member States must recognise the accreditation of bodies that have passed peer evaluation (Article 23 of the Delegated Regulation).
• The table is not a list of verifiers. It shows only whether a body is ready, and it does not list accredited verifiers. The Commission says it will publish that list on its verification page. The list is not there yet.

What to do

• Ask any verifier you consider for its accreditation certificate.
• Book a verifier early if you plan to use actual emissions.
• Look beyond your own country if your national body is not ready yet.

Stuck on this in your own import data? Write to us and we will look at it with you.

This article summarises a Commission table and related rules. It is not legal, tax or customs advice.