BRUSSELS, BELGIUM — The European Commission said on July 10 that it will review extending duties on biodiesel imports originating in the U.S.

The European Biodiesel Board (EBB) had requested in April that the commission consider an extension of the anti-dumping and countervailing duties on U.S. biodiesel. 

Given that the required level of overall E.U. industry support for the expiration request has been largely met, the European Commission has been provided with all of the legal grounds for initiating the investigation, which is forecast to last between 12 and 15 months. 

Throughout this period, the currently applicable level of remedies, ranging from €213/tonne to €409/tonne, will be maintained. At the end of the investigation period, the E.U. authorities are expected to announce whether they will extend the duties, at the same level, for another five years.

The initiation of investigation is welcomed by the industry as an important step towards preventing the recurrence of flows of cheap U.S. biodiesel to the E.U. market, and maintaining a fair and balanced global trading system, EBB said.

“Should the anti-dumping and countervailing duties cease to apply, the E.U. biodiesel industry would certainly witness the recurrence of the situation from five years ago. Back then, the heavily-subsidized U.S. biodiesel flooded the E.U., causing severe financial damage to our domestic producers, thus strangling the European market’s competitiveness,” said Raffaello Garofalo, EBB’s secretary general. “The European Commission’s decision confirms that there is still a persistent threat to the E.U. biodiesel market in place. It is the E.U. authorities’ duty not to let unfair competition resume and nullify the efforts made over the last years to develop an efficient European biodiesel industry able to compete on the global market.”