CBAM Default Values

Direct answer

CBAM default values are official fallback factors. They cannot safely be published as one emissions number per CN code.

Official defaults vary by dimensions such as year, country or region, CN/goods class, production route, and direct versus indirect emission type.

Who is affected

Exporters and operators estimating emissions before full monitoring evidence exists, importers modelling financial exposure, and consultants who must avoid inventing SEO-friendly single-factor tables.

Regulatory rule

Default values are permitted only under the conditions set by the applicable CBAM implementing rules. Using a default does not remove the need to document the pathway choice and evidence limitations.

Dimensional dependence means two goods with the same CN digit string can still require different default lookups when route, country, or emission type differs.

2026 definitive-period impact

In the definitive period, default-value misuse becomes a declaration-quality risk, not only a transitional learning issue. Wrong dimensional selection flows into the annual package due by 30 September 2027 for 2026 imports.

Required data before using a default

At minimum, lock:

• Goods CN classification and reporting period
• Installation country and production route
• Whether the claim is direct, electricity-related indirect, or both
• The official default dataset version used by the ruleset
• Why actual values were not available or not used

Decision tree

• 1. Prefer actual values when installation evidence can support verification.
• 2. If using defaults, identify every regulatory dimension required by the published table — do not collapse to CN-only.
• 3. Record the ruleset/default dataset version in the methodology decision log.
• 4. Flag mark-ups or conservative adjustments when the rules require them.
• 5. Do not publish or seal a single invented factor as if it were official.

Practical example

A fertiliser exporter lacks complete laboratory evidence for one intermediate. The team selects the official default path for that goods class, country group, route and emission type under the pinned ruleset — and records why actual values were incomplete — instead of pasting a blog “average tCO2e/t” into the dossier.

Common errors and risks

• Publishing one default per CN on a marketing page
• Ignoring country/route/year dimensions
• Treating defaults as verified actual emissions
• Mixing transitional guidance with definitive-period default tables

Official EU sources

Use the versioned official default-value sources referenced by CBAMValid rulesets and EUR-Lex implementing acts — not secondary calculators that flatten dimensions.

Related methodology

Read actual-vs-default for pathway choice, methodology for ruleset versioning, and the CN hub for goods scope before selecting any factor.

How CBAMValid handles it

CBAMValid binds calculations to versioned rulesets and records method decisions. It refuses to invent a single SEO factor per CN and keeps actual/default pathway explicit in the sealed package.

Product boundary

CBAMValid does not publish unofficial default tables as regulatory truth and does not guarantee that a default pathway will be accepted without independent verification where required.