CBAM financial guarantee: new rules for importers of steel, aluminium and other carbon-intensive goods

In shortOrder no. 1.188/2026 of the Minister of Finance, published in the Official Gazette no. 769 of 10 September 2026, sets out how the financial guarantee required from certain importers to obtain authorised CBAM declarant status is to be provided. Recently established companies are the main target. Without this status, imports of CBAM goods above the threshold of 50 tonnes a year are blocked, and sales of CBAM certificates start in February 2027.

What was published

Order no. 1.188/2026 concerns operators applying for authorised CBAM declarant status that were not established in Romania during the two financial years preceding the application - in practice, newly founded companies. The competent authority may require them to provide a financial guarantee, either as a bank guarantee letter or as cash deposited with the State Treasury units.

The level of the guarantee is linked to the maximum estimated number of CBAM certificates the importer would have to surrender, calculated on the basis of forecast imports for the year of the application and the following calendar year. If actual figures deviate significantly from the estimates, the guarantee is adjusted. Be warned: failing to provide or withdrawing the guarantee leads to the revocation of authorised declarant status - that is, to blocked imports of CBAM goods. According to Ministry of Finance data quoted in the press, about 940 Romanian importers have already applied for the status, and about 25 of them owe guarantees.

Who is concerned - and what packaging has to do with it

Since 1 January 2026, CBAM has been in its definitive regime: importing cement, fertilisers, cast iron, iron and steel, aluminium, hydrogen and electricity from outside the EU requires authorised CBAM declarant status. The de minimis threshold is 50 tonnes cumulated per year per importer - below it you have no CBAM obligations, but exceeding it during the year brings all of that year's imports into scope. Anyone who filed the authorisation application by 31 March 2026 may continue importing until it is decided.

For companies in the packaging area, the important detail lies in the CN codes of Annex I: aluminium foil (CN 7607) and steel packaging - drums, cans, boxes (CN 7310) - are covered by CBAM, as are the steel and aluminium semi-finished products from which packaging is made. By contrast, aluminium cans and containers (CN 7612) are not, in the current version, listed in the annex. The check is done code by code, not "by material".

What to do now

Check whether the CN codes you import from outside the EU include CBAM goods and track the cumulative 50 t/year threshold.
If you are above the threshold and do not hold authorised declarant status, file the application in the CBAM Registry as soon as possible - without it, imports may be blocked.
Company younger than two years? Prepare the financial guarantee under the rules of Order no. 1.188/2026.
Ask your non-EU suppliers now for embedded-emissions data - it will underpin the CBAM declaration.
Note the calendar: sales of CBAM certificates start in February 2027, and the first annual declaration, for 2026 imports, is due by 30 September 2027.

Key points:

CBAM is not "one more report" but a condition of access: without authorised declarant status, CBAM goods above the threshold can no longer be imported.
The financial guarantee in Order no. 1.188/2026 is the missing piece new companies needed to obtain that status.

Legal basis: Regulation (EU) 2023/956 establishing a carbon border adjustment mechanism, as amended (including Regulation (EU) 2025/2083); Order no. 1.188/2026 of the Minister of Finance, published in the Official Gazette of Romania, Part I, no. 769 of 10 September 2026.

If you import packaging or packaging materials, CBAM obligations sit on top of those under PPWR - where we already work with the Yvora platform - and of the contributions to the Environmental Fund. An integrated review of your import flows shows you in a single pass which obligations you have and which deadlines are coming. The Circulad'OR team can support you with this analysis.