How to find the right CBAM national competent authority

To reach the right national competent authority for CBAM, usually shortened to NCA, you must answer two questions. The first is which Member State is competent for your operator or your declaration. The second is which body inside that Member State handles your request.

A directory answers only the second question. You may need an authority for a CBAM authorisation, for certificates, or for a Registry account that will not open. That looks like a five-minute lookup of an email address or a telephone number, and it usually is not.

What the Commission directory contains

The Commission publishes a list of NCAs. Its updated list, dated 26 June 2026, gives authority and contact information for Member States. An entry can show the authority name, the unit or contact point, and an email address or telephone number where available. It can also show a postal address and the national website.

Some entries show more than one responsible body or contact point, and this is not a defect in the list. CBAM responsibilities may be divided across authorisation, certificates, methodology, customs and Registry-access functions. A Member State can give those functions to different bodies.

Establish the Member State before you open the list

The directory does not decide which Member State is competent for a particular operator or declaration. The applicable CBAM rules and your own circumstances decide that, not a contact list.

Once you know the Member State, open the current Commission directory, not a saved contact sheet. Then record the version date of the directory you used. If a contact changes later, or your request is redirected, that one line is your evidence trail.

Route the request by function, not by the authority's name

A country may give different CBAM functions to different bodies. A general climate authority may not be the right destination for a Registry access problem. A customs contact may not handle an authorisation question or an emissions-methodology question.

Before you send anything, write the function in one line. Choose one of these:

• authorisation;
• certificate administration;
• customs treatment;
• emissions methodology;
• Registry access.

Then match that line to the current directory entry and to any national page the entry links to. If the directory shows several contacts and the division between them is unclear, ask the listed authority to confirm the routing. Do not infer responsibility from the authority's name alone.

Why a copied contact list goes stale

Operational directories change faster than legislation. Units are renamed, email addresses move, and responsibilities shift between bodies.

Suppose you copy the June list into a client handbook or an internal wiki. You then turn an official source into an unmanaged local address book. It keeps looking authoritative long after it stops being correct.

Keep three things instead: the official locator, the date you checked it, and the contact you actually used. Fetch the source again before publication, before a referral and before a submission.

One entry as an example: Hungary

For Hungary, the 26 June 2026 directory names the National Climate Protection Authority, or NKVH. That is the position in the 26 June 2026 snapshot.

Take the live CBAM contact and website from the current official PDF, or from the current NKVH site. Do not repeat them from an older copy, including this article.

What it means for importers

Make each contact auditable. For every material interaction, keep a short routing record with these items:

• the competent Member State;
• the purpose of the contact;
• the directory version;
• the authority or unit selected;
• the date sent;
• the response or redirection.

This record is most useful when a matter moves between customs, climate and Registry teams. Without it, each handover restarts the lookup from the beginning.

What to do

• Replace the local address book with a controlled lookup step.
• Start from the latest official NCA list and route your request by function.
• Save the date and the source in the engagement file.
• Check every contact detail live. Before you publish any authority detail, run the lookup again and remove or update anything that no longer matches.

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

This article explains the Commission's 26 June 2026 NCA directory, which is operational and is not a rule on substantive CBAM obligations. It is not legal, tax or customs advice.