Ukraine and Sweden have agreed to simplify the accreditation process for CBAM verifiers

In particular, this will enable Ukrainian exporters to use actual data instead of default values

Ukraine and Sweden have agreed on approaches to simplifying the accreditation procedures for verifiers under the European Cross-Border Carbon Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM). This was reported in a statement from the Ministry of Economy.

The changes were discussed at a working meeting attended by Oleksandr Krasnolutskyi, Deputy Minister of Economy, Environment, and Agriculture of Ukraine, the leadership of the Swedish Accreditation Body (SWEDAC), and representatives of the European Commission.

As noted, this agreement will enable Ukrainian exporters to verify greenhouse gas emissions data in accordance with the requirements of the CBAM Regulation and use actual data instead of default overestimates.

The Swedish partners have proposed a flexible cooperation mechanism. SWEDAC is ready to grant accreditation to Ukrainian verification bodies, relying on the technical infrastructure and expertise of the National Accreditation Agency of Ukraine (NAAU).

“This decision allows us to overcome logistical obstacles related to the inability of foreign experts to visit Ukraine under martial law. We are setting a precedent where international accreditation will be carried out in close cooperation with our national body. This will significantly speed up the process for our industrial enterprises and preserve their competitiveness in the EU market,” noted Oleksandr Krasnolutskyi.

The parties are now moving on to the legal aspects of their cooperation. It is expected that as early as next week, experts from the NAAU and SWEDAC will hold the first technical consultations to agree on the regulations for their joint work.

As noted in a GMK Center study, the CBAM is projected to reduce exports of ferrous metallurgy products from Ukraine by 2.5 million tons by 2030. The mechanism’s overall impact on the country’s economy is estimated at -2.1% of GDP in 2030. This figure stands in stark contrast to the European Commission’s estimate of -0.01%.