The European Commission expects the first CBAM verifiers to receive accreditation around September 2026. Delegated Regulation (EU) 2025/2551 has applied since 1 January 2026, but that is only the legal basis: national accreditation bodies opened progressively through 2026, and assessments take months. No accredited verifier list exists yet.
The European Commission’s published expectation is direct: “The first CBAM verifiers are expected to receive CBAM accreditation around September 2026.” The legal basis arrived earlier. Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2025/2551, which sets the competence, independence and procedural conditions a verifier must meet, applies from 1 January 2026. An application date in law is not an accreditation in practice, and the gap between those two dates defines the 2026 timeline.
Why September, not January
Accreditation is granted by National Accreditation Bodies operating under Regulation (EC) No 765/2008, and those bodies became ready progressively through 2026. The Commission’s state-of-play table of 10 July 2026 shows 24 bodies agreeing to provide CBAM accreditation and 11 already accepting applications, including Germany’s DAkkS, Italy’s Accredia, the Netherlands’ RvA, Spain’s ENAC and Sweden’s Swedac. France and Austria follow in July 2026 and Hungary in August 2026. An accreditation assessment then takes months: document review, competence assessment and witnessing. Applications accepted from spring and summer 2026 therefore produce first grants around September. A Commission guidance document on accreditation and verification is due in summer 2026.
What happens after the first grants
Within two months of receiving accreditation, and not before 30 September 2026, a verifier applies for CBAM Registry access through the competent authority of the Member State where its accreditation body sits. The Commission then lists the verifier on its Taxation and Customs website. As of 20 July 2026 no accredited verifier list has been published; the published list will be the working reference.
| Date | Milestone |
|---|---|
| 1 January 2026 | Delegated Regulation (EU) 2025/2551 applies (legal basis only) |
| Summer 2026 | Commission guidance document on accreditation and verification |
| Around September 2026 | First CBAM verifier accreditations expected |
| From 30 September 2026 | Registry access applications through competent authorities |
That sequencing makes 2026 the preparation year for importers: the monitoring approach fixed, source records kept in order, the certificate cost position quantified, so that verification of the first annual declaration, due 30 September 2027, proceeds without rework. GreenSutra’s consultants prepare the embedded-emissions calculations and records that an independent accredited verifier later examines; verification itself always sits with the verifier. CBAM advisory covers exposure assessment, embedded-emissions calculation and certificate cost planning. The CBAM guide places the verifier timeline within the full compliance calendar.
Sources: Delegated Regulation (EU) 2025/2551 · Regulation (EU) 2023/956 · European Commission CBAM