Businesses need to fully understand the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM)

Seminar “Effective response to CBAM mechanism: The role of focal agencies in supporting businesses”

However, information at the Seminar "Effectively responding to the CBAM mechanism: The role of focal agencies in supporting businesses" organized by Industry and Trade Magazine on 16/9 showed that many businesses do not fully understand the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM), leading to ineffective responses and preparations for application.

According to Ms. Nguyen Hong Loan, Technical Support Project Expert on CBAM Impact Assessment, from the date January 1, 2026 officially operates, CBAM will apply carbon tax to regulated goods when exported to the EU, based on the level of greenhouse gas emissions in the production process. However, the unit's survey shows that the awareness of businesses about CBAM from before it was applied until now - in the transitional phase of CBAM, has not changed much.

Besides some directly affected businesses that have made serious preparations to respond, most businesses do not fully and accurately understand CBAM, leading to ineffective responses and preparations.

Date 24/8, Goverment The Ministry of Industry and Trade has been assigned as the focal agency, presiding over and coordinating with relevant ministries, branches and agencies to develop and deploy effective measures to respond to the CBAM mechanism.

Regarding this issue, Mr. Ngo Chung Khanh, Deputy Director of the Multilateral Trade Policy Department (Ministry of Industry and Trade) said that, in addition to communication work and support for domestic enterprises, on the external side, this agency is also having multilateral fighting and negotiation plans so that countries can have the best flexible plan for Vietnamese enterprises.

The issue of carbon taxation on exports has always been raised by this agency not only within the WTO framework but also in other multilateral forums. In fact, not only Vietnam but also many other WTO members are concerned about CBAM, including major countries such as China, South Africa, India, Indonesia, etc. 

In the immediate future, Vietnam has issued guidelines for businesses to carry out inventory, measurement and reporting of greenhouse gases. This is a premise to help businesses have a roadmap to reduce emissions, meeting international regulations. Mr. Hoang Van Tam, Department of Energy Saving and Sustainable Development (Ministry of Industry and Trade), affirmed that Vietnam's guidelines have complied well with regulations on controlling greenhouse gas emissions./.