# Do steel samples for a UK trade fair attract the CBAM?

Canonical: https://senseible.earth/answers/uk-cbam-trade-fair-samples

Not if they enter under temporary admission with full relief from customs duty: HMRC does not treat them as imports for CBAM. With partial or no duty relief, CBAM applies. If full relief ends while the goods are still in the UK, CBAM applies from that date, for example when samples are sold.

## How the rule works

- Temporary admission with full duty relief: not an import for CBAM, no charge.
- No entitlement to full relief on entry: CBAM applies from the date the goods entered.
- Full relief stops while the goods are in the UK: CBAM applies from that date.
- Temporary admission with partial or no relief: CBAM applies.

## Before you ship

1. Confirm with your UK agent that the samples will be declared for temporary admission with full relief.
2. Decide in advance whether any samples will be sold or given away at the fair.
3. Keep the declaration and re-export evidence.

## What Senseible does here

Senseible does not handle customs declarations. For goods that stay in the UK, it builds the per-tonne figure from your records. We build the figure from your records and check every figure in-house; for the UK it must then be verified by a verifier accredited for UK CBAM. Have your own verifier? Send it to them.

- [Inward processing under the EU CBAM](https://senseible.earth/answers/does-cbam-apply-to-inward-processing)
- [CBAM for Indian exporters](https://senseible.earth/cbam)

Sources: [HMRC, Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM): Policy summary (updated 2 November 2026)](https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/carbon-border-adjustment-mechanism-cbam-policy-summary/carbon-border-adjustment-mechanism-cbam-policy-summary)

Last reviewed 2026-11-02.