Last week, the European Parliament gave the final green light to changes to the CBAM, or carbon duty, law. The changes are part of the “Omnibus I” simplification package, which aims to simplify existing legislation on sustainability and investment. The text still needs to be formally approved by the Council. In addition, the European Commission is expected to publish a CBAM benchmark and reference values later this year, according to PST CLC Mitsui-Soko. What does all this mean for the practice of customs in the Czech Republic and what specifically is in the pipeline?
As of 1 January 2026, the threshold for when a company is required to file a CBAM report will change from €150 per shipment to 50 tonnes of CBAM goods/year.
This change is not the only one, but it is quite crucial. “Other changes include the possibility of delegating the reporting to a third party, previously only an importer or indirect agent, or changing the amount of CBAM certificates purchased on an ongoing basis from 80 to 50 percent,” specifies Petr Škapa, head of customs management methodology at PST CLC Mitsui-Soko.
CBAM will have a direct impact on the budget of the EU, which already foresees the collection of a “carbon duty” and has included it in its long-term strategy.
And how are Czech companies preparing for this major change in the cap? “I get questions from companies about CBAM almost every day. Probably the best preparation at the moment is for companies expecting to exceed 50 tonnes of CBAM imports for 2026 to apply for CBAM declarant approval. This is a paramount task and it is essential to have the approval issued as soon as possible,” says Petr Škapa.
Application for Approved CBAM Declarant status
He stresses that according to the Omnibus proposal, there should be no restriction on imports for companies that apply for the status of approved CBAM declarant by 31 March 2026. There will be relatively enough time for the others, as the first annual declaration will not be filed until 2027 and the first “carbon duty” in the form of the purchase of CBAM certificates will also not be paid until 2027. “Our company was one of the first companies to apply for a CBAM approved declarant permit and we are now at the stage just before the permit is issued,” says Petr Škapa.
CBAM declarations will continue in 2026 already to the extent of filing once a year, with declarations for 2026 imports being filed by 31.8.2027. CBAM certificates themselves will then be available for purchase only from 1.2.2027. Unfortunately, companies cannot prepare for the essentials. They still do not have enough information to determine, i.e. calculate, the price of CBAM certificates; traders need to calculate this price today in their future trading operations carried out during 2026,” says Petr Škapa.
The so-called CBAM benchmark is reflected in the calculation. This will be the value that, after multiplication with the CBAM factor (97.5% for 2026), will be subtracted from the values of the actual issues, which will be the basis for determining the first and essential part of the formula. This value will then be multiplied by the carbon price (EU ETS) and the quantity of goods imported in tonnes.
Petr Škapa adds that at the same time it will now be possible to use reference values to determine the price of the CBAM certificate. This will be in cases where certified data on embodied emissions are not obtained from the manufacturer.
Regulatory uncertainty threatens competitiveness
As we said, the CBAM benchmark and reference values will be published later this year. “The problem of not knowing the benchmark and reference values at the time of purchase of goods is not as critical as not knowing them at the time of subsequent sale of goods. It will be necessary to purchase CBAM certificates in 2027 for goods imported in 2026. These certificates will then represent a direct additional cost. However, without benchmarks and a CBAM benchmark, companies cannot make informed procurement decisions, assess cost impacts or prepare any mitigation strategy,” says Petr Škapa.
He adds that this creates a situation of regulatory uncertainty that is incompatible with the principles of fair competition. The lack of information not only prevents companies from preparing adequately, but also exposes them to the risk of sudden and disproportionate cost increases, which jeopardises their competitiveness against EU and non-EU producers.
