Industry group calls for EU scrutiny on Polish biodiesel exports

The European Biodiesel Board (EBB) has alerted EU and national member state authorities of trade distortions in the EU internal market caused by Polish biodiesel.

According to the EBB, biodiesel products exported from Poland at “unfair” low price levels are breaching EU and national laws, causing tremors in the marketplace.

The organisation claims it has received reports, which state that some operators active in the Polish and EU market are taking advantage of unfair discounts granted by the Polish national biofuels law.

These discounts allow them to export physical quantities of biodiesel that have been officially declared as blended under RED mandates with gasoil sold in the Polish territory, but the EBB claims the certification is suspect.

“The EBB is deeply concerned by such a flagrant breach of the EU law and principles, and is highly committed to stopping the flow of Polish biodiesel, which is highly disruptive and noxious to the integrity and competitiveness of the EU biodiesel market,” said Alain Brinon, president of EBB.

Cheaper fossil diesel is reported to having been used to substitute the volumes of biodiesel claimed in Poland that are accounted towards the national blending mandate.

The falsely declared biodiesel is then sold in Romania, the Netherlands, Belgium, Italy, and – once blended at biodiesel hubs – it also reaches the French market, the EBB says.

The quantities involved are increasing every day and have recently reached figures of 20-25,000 tonnes of illegal Polish biodiesel exports per month.

EBB says the involved operators appear to be ready to take the risk to make false declarations since the same material ends up fraudulently used twice (in Poland and in another EU country) to fulfil RED based mandatory objectives, which gives them a corresponding market advantage.

The EBB has alerted EU and national authorities, as well as the OLAF (anti-fraud office of the European Commission) and the main voluntary schemes operating in the continent in order to identify the operators and stop the biodiesel traffic.

“We will actively strive to identify the source of the problem, as well as find effective solutions that will keep the EU internal market for biodiesel united and functioning at a level-playing field again,” Brinon said.