Brussels steps up CBAM guidance: what the latest EU webinars mean for importers and suppliers

With the definitive phase of the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism now under way, the European Commission has moved into a more practical mode. Over recent weeks it has begun a series of implementation webinars and has published supporting material aimed squarely at the businesses that have to make the system work.

A run of practical sessions

The Commission's customs and taxation directorate held the first in its series of CBAM implementation webinars on 19 March 2026, with further sessions following. On 7 May it ran a session directed at exporters outside the EU, on how to turn decarbonisation efforts into a commercial advantage, and has since released the presentation and a summary of the key points.

The message for suppliers

The thread running through the exporter material is straightforward. Suppliers who can provide verified, actual emissions data give their EU customers a more accurate and usually cheaper CBAM position than the punitive default values that apply in the absence of data. For a non-EU manufacturer selling into Europe, the ability to evidence a low-carbon production route is becoming a genuine point of competitive difference rather than a compliance chore.

The message for importers

For EU importers the practical takeaway is to engage suppliers now. The first declaration covering 2026 imports is not due until 30 September 2027, but the data conversations that underpin it take time, particularly across longer supply chains. The Commission has also continued to update its CBAM communication portal, including its question-and-answer material, so it is worth keeping an eye on the official guidance as it evolves.

Supplier engagement and data collection sit at the heart of our CBAM-enabled stage, and the latest guidance only reinforces how early that work should begin.

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