CBAM penalties: what happens if you do not comply
CBAM penalties are set at EU level and imposed by the Member State authorities. They are tied to the EU ETS excess emissions penalty, and paying a penalty never replaces the obligation to surrender the missing certificates.
Not surrendering enough certificates
An authorised declarant that does not surrender, by 30 September, the number of certificates corresponding to the previous year’s embedded emissions pays a penalty equal to the EU ETS excess emissions penalty for each missing certificate: €100 per tonne of CO₂e, indexed to European consumer prices since 2013. The declarant must still buy and surrender the certificates.
Before imposing the penalty, the authority notifies the declarant and gives it the opportunity to rectify within a set period. A declarant that discovers an error in a submitted declaration can correct it in the CBAM Registry.
Importing without authorisation
A person who imports CBAM goods above the 50-tonne threshold without being an authorised declarant faces a penalty of three to five times the regular penalty for each certificate that would have had to be surrendered. The amount depends on the duration, gravity, scope, intentional nature and repetition of the infringement and on cooperation with the authority.
Other consequences
| Consequence | What happens |
|---|---|
| Goods held at the border | Customs will not release CBAM goods above the threshold without a valid CBAM account number in the declaration. |
| Revocation | Serious or repeated failures, such as missing the quarterly holding requirement, can lead to withdrawal of declarant status. |
| Retroactive assessment | Authorities can review a declaration and the number of certificates for several years after it is due. |
| Circumvention | Splitting consignments or changing trade patterns to avoid CBAM is targeted by anti-circumvention rules, which the 2025/0419(COD) proposal tightens. |
How to avoid them
- Track imports against the 50-tonne threshold during the year (threshold checker).
- Apply for authorisation before you cross it (how to apply).
- Make sure your customs broker includes the CBAM account number on every import declaration.
- Budget for certificates early (cost calculator) and keep the quarterly holding from 2027.