7.What you, the operator, do

Your four core tasks: determine embedded emissions using the official methods, have them verified, keep records, and document any carbon price paid.

• Monitoring plan. Written in English, with the elements listed in the Methodology Act. Keep a local-language working copy and review it at least once a year.
• Operator's emissions report. Prepared on the official template, in English, when actual emissions are used. Sent to the verifier through the registry, or by other means if you are not registered.
• Reporting period = calendar year. For goods imported in 2026, the reporting period is 2026. Later, it is the year of import unless you can prove when the goods were produced.
• Register in the CBAM registry (O3CI portal). You need company details, each installation's address and coordinates (six decimals), and its main activity. Every user needs an EU Login account; only an "Admin Operator" can submit data. Registration lasts five years. Approval can take several weeks.
• Share verified data with specific declarants by their EORI number, or with all. Registration is voluntary but recommended: you upload once and customers only see a summary.
• Keep records for at least six years after the reporting period. This covers both legal retention rules.

KEY Start now. Verification capacity is limited at first, so contact verifiers early.

Sources: REG Art 8(2), 10(1)-(7); MA Art 1(5), 2-10, Annex II A.2 point 4; G1 §2.4.1 p.12; G2 §2 p.5, §4-6 p.13-15; QA §5.10-5.12 p.44-45; O3CI; O3CI-MAN §4 p.31, §4.7 p.108-111.