Brussels corrects the CBAM default values: check your numbers
On 31 July the EuropeanCommission published Regulation (EU) 2026/1740, correcting the default valuesand production route indicators used in the CBAM definitive period. Thecorrections apply retroactively, which means they reach back over importsalready made this year.
What changed
Default values are the fallbacknumbers importers use when they cannot obtain actual emissions data from theirsuppliers. The definitive-period set, first published in February, containederrors in certain values and production indicators, and the new regulation putsthem right. Alongside the corrections, the mark-ups applied to default valuesare now calculated dynamically within the CBAM registry rather than taken fromstatic tables, so the figure you see in the registry is the figure that counts.
Why it matters
If your 2026 liability estimaterests on default values, the number you calculated in the spring may no longerbe right. The sensible response is short: re-run the figures against thecorrected values and check what the registry now shows for your goods. For someimporters the correction will be favourable, for others not, but either way thefinance forecast should reflect it before certificate purchases begin inFebruary 2027.
There is a broader lesson.Default values have now been revised in February and corrected in July, andmark-ups on them will climb in the years ahead. They are a moving target, and aliability built on them inherits every movement. Actual emissions data fromsuppliers, once verified, belongs to you and does not change when Brusselsreissues a table.
What to do
Check whether any of yourcovered goods rely on defaults, re-estimate the accrued liability using thecorrected values, and log the registry's dynamic mark-up figures as part ofyour quarterly routine. Then ask, product by product, whether obtaining actualsupplier data would now cost less than the defaults will.
CBAM-Assured helps importersmove from default values to verified actual data. Contact us to find out whatthat would take for your supply chain.