EU's Traces system for UCO imports looks to be delayed

: Biofuels
23/02/22

The European Commission's new Traces-New Technology (NT) certification requirement — which has threatened to stymie used cooking oil (UCO) flows from Asia and elsewhere to the EU — is likely to be delayed, giving exporters temporary relief.

The commission initially asked overseas UCO suppliers to register with the Traces-NT system via their local authorities by 31 January to attest that cargoes are of vegetable oil origin. Traces-NT is the commission's platform for certifying imports of animals, animal products, food and feed and plants to the EU.

There are currently no harmonised rules on imports of the biofuel feedstock to the EU with regard to registering approved establishments, Traces said in an email to a southeast Asian UCO trader that was seen by Argus.

"However, the commission is planning [on] adopting rules for imports of UCOs that would include the mandatory registration in Traces of the establishment of origin by the relevant competent authority of the third country and a transitional period to do so," the email stated.

"Pending the adoption of the harmonised rules and during the above transitional period, consignments of UCO will be accepted at the EU borders even when the establishment of origin in the third country is not yet registered in Traces-NT," it added.

This likely delay means that non-EU UCO suppliers will not have to be registered by their local authorities, at least for the time being.

The requirement, not to mention the speed and stealth at which it was going to be enacted, initially took the biofuel industry by surprise.

Asian UCO suppliers have been finding it difficult to get the required veterinary sign-off and register with their local governments. The European Waste-based and Advanced Biofuels Association previously asked the commission for a 24-month transition period to prevent imports of the much sought-after biofuel feedstock from sputtering to a halt, adding that there was no official notice regarding the change.

Postponing the rollout could allow the floodgates into Europe to reopen, which imported more than 1mn t of UCO from China and nearly 600,000t from Indonesia and Malaysia combined last year, according to GTT.

By Amandeep Parmar

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Viewpoint: Dutch ticket move to help low-emission fuels

25/12/17

Viewpoint: Dutch ticket move to help low-emission fuels

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EcoCeres exports first SAF output from Malaysia's Johor

25/12/17

EcoCeres exports first SAF output from Malaysia's Johor

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EU eases ICE phase-out with 2035 CO2 car target: Update

25/12/16

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EU eases ICE phase-out with new 2035 CO2 car target

25/12/16

EU eases ICE phase-out with new 2035 CO2 car target

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