Verifiers get their keys: the CBAM registry opens to verification bodies
On 28 Augustthe European Commission published the procedure and user manuals that letaccredited CBAM verifiers access the CBAM registry, with access available from1 September. It sounds administrative. It is actually the moment the scheme’sverification machinery switches on.
Why registry access matters
Readers ofour August coverage will recall the rule buried in the Commission’s verifierguidance: a verifier must be registered in the CBAM registry before it canissue a valid verification report. Accreditation alone is not enough. Untillast week there was no published route for verifiers to get in, which meant thechain from emissions data to verified report to certificate surrender had amissing link. DG TAXUD has now supplied it, setting out how verification bodiesrequest access, what documentation they need, and how they will operate insidethe system.
For importersthe timing is worth pausing on. Certificate sales open in February 2027, andthe first surrender deadline of 30 September 2027 covers everything importedduring 2026. The declarations behind those surrenders must rest on verifieddata or defaults. Verified data is cheaper, and it is now formally possible toproduce it: accredited, registered verifiers working to the reasonableassurance standard the Commission set out in August.
A capacity question
The practicalconcern is numbers. National accreditation bodies are still working throughtheir first CBAM verifier applications, and the pool of accredited bodies isbuilding country by country. Every authorised declarant relying on actual datawill want a verifier’s signature in the same twelve-month window. Anyone whohas lived through an audit season knows how that ends for the businesses thatbook late.
What to do now
If you importcovered goods, ask your intended verifier two questions: are you accredited forCBAM, and are you registered in the registry? A yes to both puts you in thefront of a queue that will only lengthen. Then look upstream. A verifierworking to reasonable assurance, with a 5 per cent materiality line, will testyour suppliers’ monitoring plans, meter records and precursor data, so thepreparation work sits with them as much as with you. Suppliers who tidy theirdata now will pass through verification quickly; those who wait will findfindings and corrections landing at exactly the moment their customers needsigned reports.
Theverification era we have been writing about all year has stopped being a futureevent. The standards are published, the registry is open, and the inspectorshave their access badges.
CBAM-Assuredtrains the people who compile CBAM data and the people who verify it, alignedwith the IACBAM 3006 competence standard. Contact us to get verification-ready.