Y238 transitional imports extended to 31 December 2026

Importers who applied for authorised OIM declarant status by 31 March 2026 and are still waiting for a decision may keep importing under TARIC additional code Y238 until 31 December 2026VID. The transitional mechanism previously ran only until 27 September 2026, so the revision adds just over three months of continued import coverage for pending applicants.

Since 1 January 2026 only an authorised OIM declarant may import OIM goods into the EU customs territory, and every OIM goods importer must state one of the TARIC OIM measure codes in the import customs declaration. Code Y238 — "application for authorised OIM declarant status submitted by 31 March 2026"VID — is the row that carries the transitional mechanism: it lets trade continue while the application filed by that date is under examinationVID.

The extension rests on the EU-level rule for pending applications. Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2025/2549, amending Implementing Regulation (EU) 2025/486Europa, provides that where an application holds registered status in the CBAM registry by 31 March 2026 in accordance with Regulation (EU) 2023/956 Article 17(7a), the applicant may provisionally continue to import goods until the date on which the decision on the application takes effectEuropa. The VID page applies that rule to declarations practice and fixes the mechanism's outside date at the end of 2026VID.

Importers below the de minimis threshold do not need the mechanism at all: those importing less than 50 tonnes of OIM goods in the calendar year are exempt from OIM duties and from obtaining authorised-declarant status, declaring Y137 under Regulation (EU) 2023/956 Article 2a instead. The exemption does not extend to electricity and hydrogen importers, who need authorised status at any volume.

Authorised status, once granted, carries three standing duties: filing the OIM declaration, acquiring and surrendering OIM certificates matching the embedded emissions, and keeping OIM documentation for five years. The first declaration for 2026 imports is due in the Commission OIM registry by 30 September 2027. Emissions may be stated from actual data — verified by an accredited verifier with a verification report — or from Commission default values, which need no verification; electricity must use default values unless specific conditions for actual data are met. Breach of OIM duties can draw a penalty under the law "Par piesārņojumu" 32.37 pants and Regulation (EU) 2023/956 Article 26.

Legal basis: Regulation (EU) 2023/956, applied through TARIC additional code Y238 on the VID OIM page for applications filed by 31 March 2026.