Many companies are not aware of their obligations under the mechanism
The German Emissions Trading Authority (DEHSt) is launching an information campaign on compliance with the requirements of the European Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM). This is reported by Argus.Media.
The campaign, together with the agency, is carried out by industry partners – the Industrial Federation BDI and the German Chamber of Commerce and Industry DIHK.
Many companies are unaware of their obligations under the CBAM, including the need to register and report even small imports of products subject to the mechanism. DEHSt aims to fill this information gap.
DEHSt is unable to quantify the number of lost reports. Jürgen Landgrebe , the head of the relevant department at the Federal Environment Agency, which is the agency's parent company, told Argus. Some companies may not be aware that the mechanism applies to their imports.
Landgrebe praised the European Commission's flexible response, which introduced a "delay button" on the relevant platform and extended the reporting deadline.
During the transition phase, importers had to submit declarations for the fourth quarter of 2023 by January 31, 2024, but the European Commission granted an extension of the first CBAM report due to technical problems with the relevant registration.
According to a representative from the Federal Environmental Protection Agency, CBAM is already having a positive effect as countries such as Turkey and Taiwan study the carbon intensity of their export products.
As Compraço previously reported, according to industrial analyst Andreas Schneider from Stahlmarkt Consult, the CBAM creates difficulties for industry, small and medium-sized companies, in particular, in Germany. He pointed out country-specific flaws in the process.
The report must be submitted through a special register, which companies can only access through the responsible national authority. Most EU member states appointed such an agency at the start of the fourth quarter, the announcement for Germany was made two days before Christmas and only reached companies in January. Therefore, the business had less than a month to register and learn about the new system for the first time.
