First accredited CBAM verifier named; Commission list still empty

The first accredited CBAM verifier we have found on any national register is EMICERT, a verification body in Chalandri, Athens. On 14 September 2026 the Hellenic Accreditation System, ESYD, signed a new scope annex to its accreditation certificate No. 874-9. The annex extends the accreditation to CBAM verification “in accordance with Annex I of Delegated Regulation (EU) 2025/2551”.

The ESYD document is public, so you can read it yourself. It matters if you plan to declare actual emissions instead of default values.

What the certificate says

A national body grants CBAM accreditation by activity group. Annex I to the delegated regulation lists eight goods groups and three other activities. 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 may sign a 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- only for the groups on its certificate.

The ESYD annex names all eleven:

• I: calcined clay, cement clinkercement clinkerThe intermediate nodular product produced in a kiln and ground with other constituents to make cement., cement, aluminous cement.
• II: hydrogen, ammonia.
• III: nitric acidnitric acidA nitrogen acid produced by ammonia oxidation and used in fertiliser manufacture, with N₂O emissions relevance..
• IV: urea, mixed fertilisers.
• V: sintered ore, pig ironpig ironHigh-carbon iron product from primary ironmaking used as feedstock for steel or cast products., direct reduced irondirect reduced ironIron ore reduced to metallic iron in the solid state for use as a metallic feedstock., crude steelcrude steelSteel in its first solid state after steelmaking and before further finishing..
• VI: ferro-alloys (FeMn, FeCr, FeNi).
• VII: unwrought aluminium.
• VIII: iron or steel products, aluminium products.
• L: carbon capture, utilisation and storage.
• LI: electricity imported into the customs territory of the Union.
• LII: indirect emissions.

The certificate is issued under EN ISO/IEC 17029:2019 and is valid until 9 June 2030. The annex replaces the previous scope dated 23 March 2026.

One detail explains the speed. The same annex carries EMICERT's existing scopes for EU ETS installations, shipping MRV, FuelEU Maritime, CORSIA and the Greek Climate Law. This is therefore a scope extension for a body already accredited for emissions verification, not a first accreditation. The delegated regulation opens this route for bodies already accredited under the ETS verification rules.

Why the Commission's table said Greece was not ready

The Commission's “State-of-play CBAM accreditation” table, edition of 1 September 2026, lists 28 national accreditation bodies. Its totals are as follows:

• 24 have agreed to provide CBAM accreditation.
• 14 are ready to accept applications.
• Seven have agreed to accredit third-country applicants.
• Five are already accepting third-country applicants.

In that table, ESYD has agreed to provide CBAM accreditation but is not yet ready to accept applications. Thirteen days later it granted one.

The two facts do not conflict. The table describes readiness to take new applicants. A scope extension for a body that ESYD already accredits follows a different procedure. If you read the table as a list of where accreditations can come from, you will under-count. Read it as a list of where a new verification company can apply.

Why there is still no list

The Commission has not yet published its list. Its verification page says: “The list of accredited CBAM verifiers will be published on this page.” As of 30 September 2026 the list is still empty. The page also says the first verifiers were expected to receive accreditation “around September 2026”. This has happened.

The gap is procedural, and the regulation sets its length. The CBAM RegistryCBAM RegistryEU IT system holding declarant accounts, declarations, verified emissions reports, certificate transactions and (from 2027) the published default carbon prices. regulation, as amended, sets the deadline for a verifier's request for registration. The verifier sends the request to the competent authority of the Member State where its accreditation body is established. The deadline is “within two months of the date on which the accreditation was granted, but not before 1 December 2026”.

The Commission's verification guidance of 24 August 2026 repeats the two months, but says nothing about the December floor. The Commission also announced separately that verifiers get Registry access from 1 September 2026.

Read together, these date rules conflict. EMICERT's two months run to 14 November 2026, yet the act says the request cannot be lodged before 1 December 2026. Both dates cannot be met. The act and the guidance do not say which reading governs, and we cite the act. In practice, do not expect the first Registry entry, and so the first name on the Commission's list, before December.

Expect the list to appear with one name on it. It should grow as other ETS-accredited bodies extend their scopes. After that window has passed, a verifier that cannot show a Registry entry should be able to explain why.

What it means for importers

Verification by an accredited verifier is required where you declare embedded emissionsEmbedded emissionsThe greenhouse-gas emissions released producing a good — direct emissions plus, where applicable, indirect (electricity) emissions — expressed per tonne of good; electricity uses kWh legally and may be converted to MWh operationally. This i on the basis of actual emissions. It is not required where you use default values. The first CBAM declaration, for 2026 imports, is due by 30 September 2027.

Until 14 September, we had found no accreditation that named CBAM goods. Now one does, for every CBAM good. Your deadline does not change. What changes is whether you can appoint an accredited verifier for an actual-emissions declaration for 2026. Verification reports themselves can be issued only from January 2027.

The accreditation does not settle the harder question, which is capacity. One accredited body, however wide its scope, cannot verify a year of third-country installations. If verification does not arrive in time, the fallback is default values (Article 7). We have found no provision for an extension.

What to do

• Ask for the annex, not the press release. Any verifier you engage should give you the scope of accreditation issued by its national accreditation body. Check that your good's activity group is on it, and check the validity date.
• Prepare the file without waiting for the Commission's list. A verifier will ask for the monitoring planMonitoring planOperator's written description of source-stream monitoring, tiers, methods and data-gap procedures; baseline document of the verification., emissions data by production process, precursorPrecursorUpstream CBAM good consumed as input to a complex-good process; listed per route; quantities always monitored per Annex II pt E. records, and the evidence behind any narrowing of the installation boundary. None of that depends on which verifier you choose.
• If you are a non-EU producer, note the route. At 1 September 2026, seven accreditation bodies had agreed to accredit third-country applicants, and five were already accepting them. These are the relevant ones for a verification company established outside the Union. That list is in the Commission's table, and it changes, so check the edition date.

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

This article explains an accreditation and a rule. It is not legal, tax or customs advice.