What to ask your suppliers for (and why it lowers your cost)
· 5 minutes
Without data from the producer, your CBAM cost is calculated with the Commission's default values, plus a mark-up that rises from 10% in 2026 to 30% in 2028. Verified data from your supplier's installation replaces both. For most goods, that is the biggest single saving.
What to ask for
- The installation that produced your goods: name, address and the operator.
- Specific embedded emissions per good (CN code), in tonnes of CO₂e per tonne: direct emissions, and indirect emissions where they count (cement and fertilisers).
- The production route, because the benchmark for the free allocation depends on it.
- The reporting period: for 2026 imports, data for a period in 2026. Data from 2025 does not count for 2026 imports.
- The verification report from an accredited verifier. Actual emissions only count in the declaration once they are verified.
- A carbon price paid in the country of production, if any, with evidence: it can be deducted.
Most suppliers send the Commission's communication template (the operator's emissions report). CBAM Wise reads it and asks the supplier only for what is missing.
Why it lowers your cost
Default values are set high on purpose, and they carry the mark-up. Actual data carries no mark-up, and it is usually lower than the default value. Because the free allocation is deducted the same way in both cases, every tonne of CO₂e less in the emissions is a certificate less to buy.
Start with the suppliers that matter
Ask first where the tonnes and the default values are largest. CBAM Wise ranks your suppliers by what their default values cost you, prepares each request from your customs declarations (goods, tonnes, dates) and sends the supplier a secure link: free for them, no account needed.
Choosing default values is also allowed, and needs no reason. CBAM Wise shows what that choice costs, so you can decide supplier by supplier.