Ministry of Finance Order No. 1188/2026 sets out the rules for the financial guarantee required of companies wishing to become authorised CBAM declarants.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!Romania is taking another key step towards implementing the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM). The Ministry of Finance issued Order No. 1188 of 2 September 2026, published in the Official Gazette No. 769 of 10 September 2026. The Order came into force on the date of publication.
Who is affected?
The guarantee is mandatory for economic operators who have not been established during the two financial years preceding the year in which they submit their application for authorisation. In short, this applies to new firms without a financial history of at least two years.
Legal basis
- Article VI of Government Emergency Ordinance No. 81/2023;
- Article 17(5)–(7) of Regulation (EU) 2023/956 (the CBAM Regulation);
- Implementing Regulation (EU) 2025/486 on the status of authorised declarants.
How the guarantee is calculated
The guarantee ensures compliance with CBAM obligations, in particular the purchase and surrender of certificates relating to the emissions embodied in imported goods.
The steps are as follows:
- Declaration on one’s own responsibility. The applicant estimates the volumes of CBAM goods they will import, by CN codes and countries of origin, for the current year and the following year.
- Calculation. The CBAM and Green Taxes Directorate of the Ministry of Finance determines the amount in euros as the maximum value of the CBAM allowances estimated to be surrendered. The calculation uses:
- the default emission values, as set out in Regulation (EU) 2025/2621;
- the reference values, as set out in Regulation (EU) 2025/2620;
- the CBAM factor, as set out in Directive 2003/87/EC;
- the price of CBAM allowances at the time of valuation, in accordance with Regulation (EU) 2025/2548.
Form of the guarantee
- It must be provided exclusively by means of a bank guarantee, payable on first demand and issued by a financial institution operating in the EU, in favour of the Ministry of Finance.
- It must cover 100 per cent of the amount determined and comply with Article 211(b) of the Code of Tax Procedure.
- The bank undertakes irrevocably and unconditionally to pay the amount within a maximum of 15 days of the authority’s request. The bank waives the right to raise objections, oppose or contest the claim.
- The letter must be sent in the original, by post. Following verification, the guarantee is registered in the AMM module of the CBAM Register, managed by the European Commission.
Monitoring and risk of revocation
The authorised declarant is permanently responsible for maintaining a sufficient guarantee. The authority constantly compares the guarantee with the import customs declarations actually submitted.
If the guarantee no longer covers actual imports, the Ministry requests that it be topped up or replaced. If the adjusted guarantee is not provided by the deadline, the procedure for revoking the CBAM authorisation may be initiated, in accordance with Article 16(5) of Regulation (EU) 2025/486.
When is the guarantee released?
The guarantee is temporary. It remains in place until the company establishes a track record of compliance.
The guarantee is released within 45 days after 30 September of the second year in which the declarant has fulfilled their obligations to return the certificates (Article 22 of Regulation (EU) 2023/956). To obtain the release, the company must submit an express application, together with supporting documents, to the CBAM and Green Levies Directorate.
Note: The Order is supplemented by the remaining EU CBAM legislation, including Regulation (EU) 2023/1773 on reporting during the transition period and Regulation (EU) 2024/3210 on the CBAM Register.