Starting in October of this year, a company briefing session was held jointly with the public and private sectors. The event was held in an effort to strengthen EU CBAM response capabilities. The aim is to ensure that export companies, such as those in the steel industry, fulfill the duty of reporting carbon emissions. This is following the implementation of the EU Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (hereinafter EU CBAM).

On September 26 (Tuesday), the government held the ‘EU CBAM Company Briefing Session’ at the Korea International Trade Association. The event was held jointly with government ministries including the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE), Ministry of Environment (ME), Ministry of SMEs and Startups, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Carbon Neutrality and Green Growth Commission, etc., and related organizations including the Korea Iron and Steel Association, Korea Institute of Industrial Technology, National Institute of Environmental Research, Korean Foundation for Quality, and the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency. The purpose was to check and share preparations for the implementation of EU CBAM with participating companies and discuss response plans.

The implementation law on duty to report, set to take effect in October of this year, was enacted on September 16. This mandates that Korean companies exporting six products, including steel, aluminum, and cement, to the EU are obligated to report the embedded carbon emissions of their exported products to the EU. 

At the briefing session, participants shared the EU local trends and the preparation status of the domestic steel industry in preparation for the implementation of EU CBAM. They received explanations on carbon prices as well as methods for calculating embodied emissions related to EU CBAM reporting obligations. Additionally, a Q&A session from the industry was held. 

Korean export companies are facing many difficulties in fulfilling their reporting obligations as the implementation of EU CBAM is imminent. Under this consideration, related organizations such as the MOTIE and the ME collaboratively prepared and distributed the EU CBAM Guidelines*. As various implementation laws related to EU CBAM are scheduled to be enacted in phases during the transition period, the guidelines will be continuously supplemented according to the trends of enactment of implementation laws.

* The guidelines can be downloaded from the websites of relevant ministries such as the MOTIE and the ME, as well as the support system for proactive response to international environmental regulations (compass.or.kr)

At the briefing session, government officials stated, “The global climate and trade environment is rapidly changing. For example, the introduction of the US Inflation Reduction Act and the EU Critical Raw Material Act, and the implementation of EU CBAM are also part of this trend. In order to strengthen the competitiveness of our export companies and diversify export target countries, the public and private sectors will work together to minimize the burden on our companies.”

In addition, the government announced its commitment to ongoing consultations with the EU. This goal is to minimize any additional burdens on Korean export companies considering that EU CBAM implementation laws will be enacted in stages in the future

Contact: Kim Min-ji, Deputy Director

Climate Economy Division / +82-(0)44-201-6590