EU eyes stricter standards for biofuel imports

EU eyes stricter standards for biofuel imports

By Andrew Bounds in Brussels

Published: April 27 2008 22:05 | Last updated: April 27 2008 22:05

US-produced biofuels could in effect be shut out of Europe under plans being discussed in Brussels.

Anxious to distance itself from charges that its push for biofuels is creating hunger round the world, the European Union is considering stringent social and environmental criteria for imports that the US and some other big biofuel producers would not meet.

The sustainability criteria under discussion would in effect bypass World Trade Organisation rules forbidding biofuel bans. By excluding those products not meeting the criteria from its biofuels target of a 10 per cent contribution to the fuel mix by 2010, the EU would deprive those products of government support, removing incentives to import them.

One option under discussion is to exclude imports from countries that have not ratified a range of international agreements on labour and environmental standards, including the Kyoto protocol on global warming.

Documents seen by the Financial Times state that exporters would have to abide by at least 10 of 12 treaties, from International Labour Organisation accords on equal pay, child labour and the right of workers to organise, to the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity. The US, wary of labour market restrictions, has ratified few of these. Malaysia, a big palm oil producer, would also fall short, according to ILO data.

A second option would require producers to prove that they had complied with national laws enforcing ILO standards, that pesticide use was limited and that the local population had been consulted about biofuel plantations. Diplomats from EU member states have been unable to agree on how tough the criteria should be.

“There is a wide consensus among the member states to include environmental and social criteria for the production of biofuels regardless of their origin; however, how to implement these principles is still being debated,” said a spokesman for Slovenia, which is chairing the talks.

Countries including the UK and Belgium have expressed doubts about whether the EU should stick with its biofuel targets. Environment commissioner Stavros Dimas and development commissioner Louis Michel are also questioning them.

A spokesman for José Manuel Barroso, European Commission president, said he still backed the target. However, he had asked staff for updated data on biofuels’ effect of on food prices.

The Commission last year estimated that about 15 per cent of EU farmland would be used to grow energy crops by 2020, with about 20 per cent of demand – about 14m tonnes – met by imports.

Separately, the EU and US face a trade spat after EU biodiesel producers on Friday asked the Commission to investigate subsidised US imports they said were driving them out of business. US producers can receive $300 per tonne if they add a “drop” of mineral diesel to biodiesel, the European Biodiesel Board said. “Such a blend can then be exported to Europe where it is also eligible for European subsidy schemes,” it said in a statement.