[SMM Stainless Steel Flash] Chinese Taiwan's Stainless Steel Mills and Distributors Lock in Price Negotiations

Stainless steel and aluminium trader Gerber Group submitted a detailed statement to the EU consultation on the draft CBAM certificate platform regulation, with a core message: a typing error is not fraud, and a single irrevocable annual repurchase request is not simplification. Under the current draft effective February 1, 2027, purchase requests cannot be amended once submitted, and repurchase requests may only be made once per year with no correction or withdrawal permitted. CEO Thorsten Gerber noted that the Commission may correct its own drafts, platform operators may rectify reports, and authorities may correct data — yet SMEs that finance the system are expected to be infallible. Gerber Group demands a general right to correct obvious input errors before payment, monthly repurchase processing within 15 calendar days, automatic deadline protection when Commission systems fail, and multilingual support. Critics also note the draft contains placeholders, incorrect legal references, and contradictory provisions, while the proposed platform fee of EUR 0.05 per certificate — roughly 16 times the EEX rate — would generate approximately EUR 22 million annually with no published cost justification.