Ordliste
CBAM — carbon border adjustment mechanism — definition
The EU mechanism requiring importers to buy certificates for the emissions embedded in imported goods — introduced in Norway from 1 January 2027.
CBAM entered its definitive phase in the EU on 1 January 2026 and covers six goods groups, aluminium among them. Norway introduces equivalent rules from 1 January 2027, with the same goods groups and a threshold of 50 tonnes per year.
Goods originating in the EEA are exempt.
For an importer above the threshold the scheme means registration in two registers, documentation of embedded emissions or the use of default values, purchase and surrender of certificates, and reporting. The EU certificate price was 75.36 euro per tonne CO2e in the first quarter of 2026.
A clarification worth noting: finished aluminium castings are not within the current scope. The rules bite on aluminium at earlier stages. The Commission has proposed extending the scope to around 180 downstream products from 2028 at the earliest, but that is a proposal under consideration, not adopted law.
For a buyer the main point is administrative rather than financial: a supplier inside the EEA removes the entire reporting question.