Swedac has accredited Intertek Certification AB to verify emissions under the EU Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM), expanding the pool of potential verification providers for electricity and carbon-intensive industrial imports. Announced on 13 October, the accreditation comes as exporters prepare for the first verified CBAM reporting cycle.
Intertek becomes Sweden’s first accredited CBAM verification organisation, adding capacity to a market transitioning from regulatory preparation to operational verification. Its accreditation covers electricity and several major industrial sectors, including iron and steel, aluminium, cement, fertilisers and hydrogen.
Accreditation covers electricity and major industrial sectors
The Swedish national accreditation body lists Intertek under accreditation number 1639, with validity through 13 October 2031.
The approved scope includes activity group LI, covering electricity imported into the EU, as well as activity groups I–VIII and LII, encompassing major CBAM industrial sectors and indirect emissions. The listed areas include iron and steel, steel products, ferro-alloys, unwrought aluminium, aluminium products, cement, clinker, fertilisers, ammonia and hydrogen.
The inclusion of electricity is particularly relevant to exporters in Serbia, Montenegro and the wider Southeast European region, where producers seeking access to EU markets may need verified emissions information to support importers’ CBAM requirements.
However, accreditation alone does not establish that a verifier can immediately undertake every assignment. Exporters and EU authorised CBAM declarants must check the provider’s status in the CBAM Registry, confirm that its accredited scope covers the relevant activity and product, establish compliance with independence requirements and agree the terms of the engagement.
Electricity verification retains specific eligibility conditions
For electricity exporters, the availability of another accredited verifier does not change the conditions governing claims based on actual emissions. Such claims remain subject to applicable contractual and physical-delivery requirements, including relevant power purchase arrangements, cross-border scheduling and the matching of generation with nominated electricity flows.
Renewable electricity producers in Serbia and Montenegro therefore still need evidence connecting the claimed electricity to a specific generating installation, the contractual chain, an accepted physical schedule and the EU importer.
The new accreditation expands the number of potential providers for electricity verification, but it does not relax the rules governing eligibility for actual-emissions treatment.
Steel and aluminium producers must confirm the precise scope
Industrial exporters face a similar requirement to match verification arrangements to their production activities. A verifier’s general CBAM accreditation does not automatically establish that every product or installation falls within its authorised scope.
Steel and aluminium manufacturers must confirm that the legal entity engaged for the assignment is accredited for the relevant production activity, product group and indirect-emissions scope applicable to their goods.
The distinction matters as European customers increasingly require emissions information supported by the appropriate verification process. Producers that have calculated embedded emissions but have not secured a suitably accredited verifier may still experience delays in delivering verified data.
Verification capacity becomes a commercial consideration
The expansion of accredited verification services is commercially significant as the first full CBAM compliance cycle approaches. A wider pool of providers may give exporters more options for arranging site visits, reviewing documentation and completing verification.
This additional capacity could be particularly relevant for Southeast European manufacturers if demand for verification becomes concentrated as EU customers strengthen supplier requirements.
Banks and industrial buyers may also begin incorporating verifier availability into their assessment of CBAM readiness. For companies substantially dependent on EU sales, delays in obtaining verified data could create working-capital pressure or affect their ability to meet customer requirements on schedule.
The accreditation does not alter EU rules on electricity actual emissions, hourly matching, default factors, precursor accounting or embedded-emissions calculations. Its significance is operational: another major verification provider has received formal accreditation covering electricity and several key CBAM industrial sectors.
For Southeast European exporters, securing an appropriate verifier and preparing the required evidence are becoming important parts of procurement and production planning, rather than tasks that can safely be left until carbon calculations are complete.
