The 50-tonne line holds: Commission confirms the CBAM de minimis threshold
On 30 Septemberthe European Commission published its first assessment of the CBAM de minimisthreshold, the rule that keeps the smallest importers out of the scheme. Thefinding is that the threshold works as designed. Goods entering under the50-tonne exemption account for 0.87 per cent of the embedded emissions CBAMcovers, inside the 1 per cent ceiling the regulation allows. The thresholdstays where it is.
What the threshold does
When thesimplified CBAM rules were agreed last year, the old exemption for consignmentsworth less than 150 euros was replaced with a single mass-based test. Animporter bringing less than 50 tonnes of covered goods into the EU in acalendar year has no CBAM obligations: no authorisation, declaration orcertificates. Electricity and hydrogen sit outside the exemption. TheCommission estimated at the time that the change would release around 90 percent of importers, mostly small and occasional ones, while keeping around 99per cent of embedded emissions inside the scheme.
The price ofthat simplification was a safety check. Article 2a(3) of the regulationrequires the Commission to assess each year whether the exemption covers morethan 1 per cent of embedded emissions. It also recalculates the threshold usingthe method in Annex VII, and must amend it by delegated act where therecalculated figure differs from the current one by more than 15 tonnes.
What the assessment found
The reviewcovered imports from 1 April 2025 to 31 March 2026. Across that period the50-tonne threshold would have exempted 0.87 per cent of embedded emissions.That leaves headroom below the ceiling, though not a great deal. A shift intrade patterns, or systematic splitting of consignments to stay under the line,could push the figure over 1 per cent in a future year and force the thresholddown. The regulation already contains anti-abuse provisions aimed at importerswho divide their imports artificially.
Aluminium may get a lower line
The thresholdis under pressure from another direction. In its September position on thedownstream extension, the European Parliament voted to cut the threshold foraluminium from 50 tonnes to 5, on the argument that many aluminium shipmentsfall below the current line and escape the charge. That proposalnow goes into negotiations with the Council, so aluminium importers should nottreat 50 tonnes as settled.
What it means in practice
For smallimporters the message is reassurance with a caveat. The exemption held thisyear and it is reviewed annually, so a business importing near the line shouldkeep a running total of its tonnage across all covered goods, aluminium screwsand steel fittings included, and check it monthly. Crossing 50 tonnes bringsthe full set of obligations with it, including the need to hold authoriseddeclarant status before importing.
UK businessesshould note the contrast with HMRC's design. The UK CBAM, starting in January2027, uses a value-based registration threshold of £50,000 of CBAM goods over arolling 12-month period. A business can sit outside one scheme and inside theother, so check both.
CBAM-Assuredtrains importers and their advisers to work out where they stand under bothschemes; contact us if the 50-tonne line runs anywhere near your business.