CBAM importers need verified data to declare actual emissions

Latvian importers planning to declare actual embedded emissions under the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism need independently verified data from their producersVID. VID's guidance distinguishes that route from the use of Commission default values, for which emissions verification is not required. It states that the first declaration, covering 2026 imports, is due by 30 September 2027VID.

The production operator monitors and calculates the emissions and provides the records for verification. An accredited verifier checks the calculations, supporting evidence, monitoring methods and data controls, then prepares the verification report. The authorised CBAM declarant uses the verified information in its annual declaration. The verification report supports the declaration; it does not replace it.

VID recommends contacting the supplier or producer early to establish which installation makes the goods, whether it follows the CBAM monitoring methodology and whether it will provide verified data. Importers should also establish whether the operator intends to register and upload its emissions and verification reports in the CBAM Registry. Where the operator does not provide the necessary service, VID says the declarant will need to use default values.

A Latvian importer does not have to select a verifier accredited in Latvia. VID explains that it can use a suitably accredited verifier registered in the CBAM Registry from another EU Member State. Accreditation must cover the relevant goods category, and verification must be independent.

Site-visit arrangements are part of the verification process. The implementing regulation allows a physical visit to be replaced by a virtual visit, or in specified cases waived, only where its conditions are metEuropa. Those conditions address previous visits, the verifier's understanding of the installation, access to evidence and verification risk. A separate provision allows a virtual visit where serious, extraordinary and unforeseeable circumstances prevent a physical visit despite reasonable efforts, with the required risk safeguards.

The legal framework is Regulation (EU) 2023/956, as amended, and Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2025/2546, including Articles 2–4 on site visits and Article 6 on the verification report.