The British government has unveiled fresh draft regulations governing how embodied emissions will be measured and verified under the United Kingdom’s Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (UK CBAM), taking another step toward implementing the levy on schedule in January 2027.
The latest draft rules, setting out details on calculating embodied emissions, monitoring and verification of emissions data, and record keeping, will be open for public consultation until May 21, as announced Thursday by His Majesty’s Revenue & Customs (HMRC).
The UK CBAM, confirmed by the government in October 2024 and enshrined in the Finance Act 2026, will place a carbon price on specified goods imported into the UK from sectors considered at risk of carbon leakage.
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The mechanism mirrors a similar instrument already in force in the European Union (EU), and is designed to ensure that overseas producers face comparable carbon costs to UK-based manufacturers.
The sectors covered include aluminium, cement, fertilizers, hydrogen, and iron and steel. The consultation is directed at UK importers of these goods, overseas producers that export to the UK, downstream companies that incorporate CBAM goods into their supply chains, and overseas accreditation bodies and verifiers that may be affected if producers opt to monitor their actual emissions rather than use default values.
Alongside the draft secondary legislation HMRC has also published a draft of the so-called Force of Law Notice—legally binding, tertiary legislation in the UK—which is not formally part of the consultation, but may help stakeholders understand how the full body of CBAM legislation will read together.
This consultation follows a separate round that closed on March 24, which covered administrative requirements, the CBAM rate, and carbon price relief provisions.
Together, the two rounds form the core regulatory framework that HMRC intends to have in force when the tax takes effect. More information and the full documentation can be found here.
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