The CBAM third-country carbon price deduction.
Article 9 of Regulation (EU) 2023/956 lets an EU importer surrender fewer CBAM certificates when a carbon price has been effectively paid in the country of origin. Exporters in Serbia and Turkey keep hearing that their new national carbon prices will cancel out CBAM. As of 31 October 2026, no third-country carbon price deduction can be relied on — here is the honest status, country by country.
What Article 9 actually says.
Article 9 of the CBAM Regulation allows the authorised CBAM declarant — the EU importer, never the exporter — to claim a reduction in the number of certificates to be surrendered, reflecting a carbon price effectively paid for the declared embedded emissions of the goods. The amending Regulation (EU) 2025/2083 tightened the wording: the price must have been paid in the country of origin, no longer in any "third country" along the supply chain.
Three conditions sit in the article itself. The price must be effectively paid — net of any rebate, export compensation or other form of offset. The claim must be verified and certified by an independent accredited person. And records supporting it must be kept.
The deduction lives inside the annual CBAM declaration, the first of which is due 30 September 2027 for 2026 imports. The exporter's role is evidentiary: documenting that a qualifying price was actually paid on the emissions embedded in the goods shipped.
The Article 9 implementing act is still a draft — as of the most recent public reporting, in August 2026, the member-state vote was pending. Until that act is adopted and a specific national scheme is recognised, no third-country carbon tax can be counted on for an automatic CBAM deduction. Not Serbia's, not Turkey's, not anyone's.
Who pays a carbon price — and who gets a deduction.
| Country | Carbon price in force | Article 9 deduction today |
|---|---|---|
| Serbia | National GHG emissions tax of EUR 4 per tonne on industrial operators holding emissions permits, in force since 1 January 2026, alongside a border levy on carbon-intensive imports | No. There is no EU decision recognising the Serbian tax, and the Article 9 implementing act itself remains a draft |
| Turkey | Climate Law No. 7552 in force since 9 July 2025; the ETS implementing regulation was published in Official Gazette No. 33353 on 27 August 2026, with a three-year window for operators to obtain emission permits | No. The Turkish system does not yet impose an effectively paid carbon price, so there is currently nothing to deduct |
Status verified 31 October 2026 against Reg. (EU) 2023/956 Art. 9 as amended by Reg. (EU) 2025/2083, the EU Delegation to Serbia and Turkish Official Gazette No. 33353. We update this page as recognition decisions land.
Serbia's tax and Turkey's ETS, in detail.
Serbia brought two interconnected laws into force on 1 January 2026: a national GHG emissions tax of EUR 4 per tonne on industrial operators holding emissions permits, and a border levy on carbon-intensive imports that mirrors the EU CBAM product list (electricity excluded for now), planned to rise annually toward EU ETS price parity by 2034. A Serbian steel or fertiliser producer therefore genuinely pays a carbon price today — but "pays a carbon price" and "qualifies under Article 9" are different tests, and the second has not been passed.
Scale matters too. CBAM certificates are priced off EU ETS auction averages — the Q1 2026 quarterly average, published on 7 April 2026, was EUR 75.36. Even if Serbia's EUR 4 per tonne were recognised tomorrow, it would offset only a small fraction of the certificate cost. Serbia began drafting a new climate-change law in August 2026 as the basis for an eventual ETS, and under its Energy Community and accession track it is expected to introduce EU-ETS-equivalent carbon pricing by 2030 — expected, not yet an EU act.
Turkey has built the legal scaffolding faster than the price signal. Climate Law No. 7552, in force since 9 July 2025, created the basis for a national ETS; the implementing regulation followed in the Official Gazette on 27 August 2026, giving operators three years from the Climate Law to obtain emission permits. Until allowances are genuinely paid for, there is no "effectively paid" carbon price — and therefore nothing for an EU declarant to deduct on Turkish goods.
The stakes are regional. More than 60% of Western Balkan goods exports go to the EU, making the region one of the most CBAM-exposed in the world — which is exactly why the country-by-country exposure picture deserves more scrutiny than a headline about a local carbon tax.
What a successful claim will need.
- A carbon price effectively paid in the country of origin — net of any rebate, export compensation or other offset. A headline rate that is refunded at export fails the test.
- A documented link between the price paid and the declared embedded emissions of the goods actually shipped.
- Verification: the claim certified by an independent accredited person before the declarant uses it.
- Records kept on both sides of the transaction — the exporter's payment evidence feeds the importer's declaration.
- The piece still missing: an adopted implementing act setting out how the deduction is calculated and evidenced, plus recognition of the specific national scheme.
What Habitat does while Article 9 settles.
Both sides of the transaction have work to do before the implementing act lands: EU declarants provisioning their 2026 CBAM cost ahead of certificate sales opening on 1 February 2027, and exporters whose EU customers are legally required to collect installation-level data.
Frequently asked.
Can a carbon price paid in a third country be deducted from CBAM?
Is Serbia's carbon tax deductible under CBAM Article 9?
Does Turkey's new ETS reduce CBAM costs for Turkish goods?
Who claims the Article 9 deduction — the importer or the exporter?
What changed in Article 9 under Regulation (EU) 2025/2083?
Treat the deduction as upside, not a budget line.
Habitat models your CBAM exposure with and without Article 9, builds the evidence file on the exporter side, and tracks the implementing act so you do not have to — with scope, timeline and price in writing.