The European Biodiesel Board (EBB) has published an ambitious proposal to revise the rules on sustainable biofuels verification under the Renewable Energy Directive (RED) as part of its ongoing bid to tackle biofuel fraud.
A surge of imports from South-East Asia since 2022 had raised serious concerns in the industry on the compliance of some imports with the criteria of the RED, the association said on 20 February.
The European Commission (EC) is currently re-evaluating the verification rules that govern biofuels in the European Union (EU) market.
In a 30-page document published on 20 February, the EBB has proposed that rules applied to domestic producers – for biofuels used on the EU market – should be enforced just as strictly outside the EU.
For example, on-site audits should be systematic in production facilities outside the EU, as is already the case in Europe.
The paper also proposed, as a pre-condition for biofuels to count towards the RED target, that member states authorised - for every producer - the quantities, capacities and feedstock use of biofuels produced from raw materials listed in Annex IX, as was already the case in some countries. The Annex covers sustainability criteria for biofuels, bio-liquids and biomass fuels.
In addition, the EBB said the Union Database for Biofuels (UDB), an EU-wide traceability system for sustainable renewable fuels, should include additional information and documents to improve verification.
The paper also calls for tougher sanctions on non-compliance, and that the withdrawal of certificates in case of non-compliance should have retroactive effects, to ensure only genuinely sustainable biofuels contribute to RED objectives.
“Fraud is an existential threat for our industry, for the functioning of RED verification and for EU climate ambitions,” EBB secretary general Xavier Noyon said.
Changes proposed by the trade association, which represents EU producers of hydrotreated vegetable oil (HVO) and fatty acid methyl ester (FAME) from all feedstocks, would make the verification system more robust and ensure a level-playing field with economic operators outside the EU, the EBB said.
Other stakeholders had joined the EBB’s call for action, the organisation said, with members states at the Energy Council meeting on 30 May 2024 calling on the EC to develop “strong corrective actions to prevent the entry of fraudulent biofuels on the European market”.
