Five verifiers and counting: the CBAM verification market takes shape
The verification market the EU CBAM depends on is no longer theoretical. By 13 October, five verification bodies across three countries held a documented CBAM accreditation: EmiCert in Greece, Bureau Veritas Italia, RINA Services and SGS ICS Italia in Italy, and Intertek Certification in Sweden.
Who is on the list so far
EmiCert, an Athens-based verification body, was accredited by Greece's national accreditation body ESYD in September, the first anywhere in the world, as we reported at the time. Italy's Accredia followed with a committee decision of 28 September covering Bureau Veritas Italia, RINA Services and SGS ICS Italia; SGS announced its accreditation publicly on 7 October. Sweden's Swedac has accredited Intertek Certification AB, with the record documented on 13 October. TÜV Rheinland also describes itself as accredited, but no dated record naming an accreditation body or scope has surfaced, so it is not counted here.
The official list is still empty
The Commission is required to publish a list of accredited verifiers, and its verification page says the list will appear there. As of this week it has not. Until it does, the national accreditation bodies' own registers are the only official record, and anyone engaging a verifier should ask for the accreditation annex and check that it covers the right activity groups for their goods.
Why the count matters
From this year, an importer who wants to declare actual emissions rather than default values needs those emissions verified by an accredited verifier, and the first annual CBAM declarations fall due on 30 September 2027. Verifiers must also visit each installation during its first verification year, which puts travel and scheduling time into every engagement. Five bodies, four of them concentrated in two countries, is a thin supply against thousands of third-country installations that will want verified figures. Verification capacity, rather than willingness, may decide which suppliers can offer verified data in time for the first declarations.
What to do now
Operators of installations outside the EU should approach a verifier early rather than waiting for the Commission's list, because the site visit requirement means engagements started late may not finish in time. Importers should ask their suppliers which verifier they have appointed and when the visit is booked. Where verified data will not be ready, default values remain the lawful fallback, but they carry a mark-up and usually cost more than real figures, so every consignment that can be verified is worth verifying.
We will report when the Commission's official list appears.
CBAM-Assured helps suppliers prepare installation-level emissions data that stands up to verification first time; contact us before the queue at the verifiers forms.