What is the difference?
Default values are the EU's figures for the emissions in a tonne of a given good produced in a given country. Actual emissions are the figures for the specific installation that made your goods, worked out by its operator and checked by an accredited verifier. For every CBAM good except electricity, you can use either one to determine the embedded emissions you declare.
Where do default values come from?
Default values are set in Implementing Regulation (EU) 2025/2621, corrected by Implementing Regulation (EU) 2026/1740. Each one is based on the average emission intensity of the exporting country for that good. The mark-up for the year is added on top. Where there is no reliable data for a country, the default value is based on the average of the ten exporting countries with the highest emission intensities for that good.
The CN/TARIC code pages show the default values for each code and country without the mark-up values.
How big is the mark-up?
For cement, iron and steel, aluminium and hydrogen, the mark-up is 10% in 2026, 20% in 2027 and 30% from 2028. For fertilisers it is 1% in every year. It is set to ensure the environmental integrity of CBAM. The phase-in page shows the rates by sector and year.
When do I use actual emissions?
You can use actual emissions once the producer's installation has them verified by an accredited verifier.
What does verification involve?
Actual emissions only count once an accredited verifier has verified them. The installation's operator determines the embedded emissions for each type of good, following the methods in Implementing Regulation (EU) 2025/2547, and a verifier accredited under the CBAM rules checks them and issues a verification report.
As the importer, you remain responsible: you declare the verified figures and include the verification reports with your CBAM declaration. If the operator is registered in the CBAM Registry, you can use the verified information it shares with you there instead.
Can I use both?
Yes. The choice is made for the goods you declare, not once for your whole business. We recommend always asking your producers for verified actual emissions first: they reflect how your goods were actually produced and carry no mark-up. Use default values only for goods where you cannot obtain verified actual emissions from the producer. You can start on default values while you wait for the data and switch good by good as your producers supply it.
What about electricity?
Imported electricity uses default values unless you can show it meets all the conditions the regulation sets for actual emissions, starting with a power purchase agreement between you and the electricity producer outside the EU.