Buying CBAM certificates is about to become a real treasury task, and in July 2026 the European Commission published the draft rules that will govern it. A draft delegated regulation on the sale and repurchase of CBAM certificates went out for public feedback on 9 July 2026, open until 6 August, and it sets out how the common central platform will work from February 2027.
Until now, most importers have treated certificates as a future line item. The draft turns the mechanics into something you can plan against: who sells, where the money moves, what can be corrected, and what cannot.
What the draft delegated regulation covers
The Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism Regulation leaves the operational detail of certificate trading to secondary legislation. This draft fills that gap. It empowers the Commission to set implementing rules on the timing and administration of certificate sale and repurchase, on the fee structure for the platform, and on the safeguards needed to keep the system consistent with the rest of the CBAM framework.
Three principles run through the text. Platform operation must be cost efficient, fees must recover only the costs actually incurred, and administrative burden on business must be kept down. A fourth theme, stronger anti-abuse safeguards, reflects the same enforcement mood visible in the wider CBAM revision now in Parliament.
How the central platform will work
Certificates are sold by the Member State where the authorised CBAM declarant is established, but not through 27 separate national systems. A common central platform, established and managed by the European Commission following a joint procurement procedure, handles the transactions. The joint procurement agreement between the Commission and Member States entered into force on 16 December 2025.
The draft splits the workflow across two systems:
- The CBAM Registry is where an authorised declarant enters a purchase request.
- The central platform processes the payment and the issuance of certificates to the declarant's account.
One detail deserves attention from anyone who has ever fixed a typo in a customs declaration. Under the draft, a purchase request cannot be amended once it has been entered, and a repurchase request is irrevocable and non-amendable from the moment it is submitted, before any authority review or payout. Data quality at the point of entry is therefore not a nice to have.
How certificates will be priced
Pricing follows two regimes. Certificates covering emissions embedded in 2026 imports use the quarterly average EU ETS allowance price. Those benchmarks are already being published: €75.36 per tonne of CO₂ for Q1 2026 and €75.28 for Q2 2026.
From 2027 onwards, the reference switches to the weekly average auction price of EU ETS allowances, expressed in euro per tonne of CO₂ equivalent. That shift matters for cash management: a weekly price means the cost of a certificate depends on when you buy it, and carbon prices do not move in a straight line.
Repurchase and cancellation
Buying too many certificates is not a neutral hedge. Where an authorised CBAM declarant requests it by 30 June each year, the competent authority repurchases up to one third of the certificates remaining in the account after surrender. Everything above that ceiling is cancelled without compensation.
The draft adds a practical constraint on top: only one repurchase request is allowed per year. Combined with the irrevocability rule, that leaves no room for iterative correction. The buying strategy has to be right the first time, which in turn depends on knowing your embedded emissions accurately rather than approximately.
Where the draft is being criticised
Industry commentary during the feedback period focused less on the principles than on the plumbing. The recurring points are:
- no obligation to provide a single unified user interface across the Registry and the platform;
- no API or ERP integration requirement, which pushes companies towards manual entry;
- no test environment before live operation, so the first real transaction is also the first rehearsal;
- a feedback window running through the European summer break, which limits participation.
The burden falls hardest on smaller importers, who are the least likely to have staff dedicated to a new EU portal. Larger groups can absorb manual processes; a mid-sized importer with a handful of shipments a month generally cannot.
How importers should prepare
February 2027 is closer than it looks, and the work that determines your certificate bill happens well before the first purchase:
- Get your 2026 embedded emissions right. Every tonne you cannot substantiate becomes a certificate you may buy unnecessarily, and only a third of the surplus comes back.
- Forecast quarterly. Use the published 2026 quarterly prices to build a defensible budget rather than a placeholder.
- Assign ownership. Certificate purchasing sits between customs, finance and sustainability. Decide now who presses the button.
- Confirm your authorisation status. Only an authorised CBAM declarant can hold and buy certificates.
This is precisely the workflow CBAM Desk automates. Imports are valued against the official quarterly price as they are processed, forecasting projects the certificate volume you will actually need, and the data behind each figure is traceable to the shipment. Our pricing page shows which plan fits your import volume.
FAQ
When can importers start buying CBAM certificates?
Sales start on 1 February 2027. The first certificates cover embedded emissions in goods imported during 2026, which importers must declare and settle in 2027.
Where do importers buy CBAM certificates?
Certificates are sold by the Member State of the authorised CBAM declarant through a common central platform established and managed by the European Commission under a joint procurement procedure. Purchase requests are entered in the CBAM Registry, while payment is handled by the central platform.
What price will importers pay for CBAM certificates?
Certificates covering 2026 imports are priced on the quarterly average EU ETS allowance price, which was €75.36 for Q1 2026 and €75.28 for Q2 2026. From 2027 onwards the price follows the weekly average EU ETS auction price.
Can importers sell back unused CBAM certificates?
An authorised CBAM declarant can request repurchase of up to one third of the certificates remaining after surrender, and the request must be made by 30 June. Certificates beyond that limit are cancelled without compensation, so over-buying carries a permanent cost.
Until when could stakeholders comment on the draft regulation?
The European Commission opened feedback on the draft delegated regulation on 9 July 2026 and kept it open until 6 August 2026.
Key takeaway
The draft rules make buying CBAM certificates a one shot, non-reversible transaction in a system with a hard cap on refunds. Importers who enter February 2027 with accurate embedded emissions and a clear purchasing owner will pay for what they actually imported. Those who guess will pay for the guess. Book a CBAM Desk demo to see your 2026 certificate exposure calculated from your real shipment data.
Sources
- Regulatory Compliance, EU: Carbon border adjustment mechanism (CBAM) certificates, sale and repurchase (July 2026)
- Stainless Espresso, CBAM Certificate Platform: Brussels' Next Bureaucracy Trap (July 2026)
- European Commission, CBAM legislation and guidance
- European Commission, CBAM Definitive Registry (from 2026 onwards)