Newsletter
MOTOR FUEL STANDARDS PUBLISHED
On 15 December 1999 the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) published its Gasoline and Diesel Fuel Composition and Performance Standards, which came into force on 1 January 2000. All domestically produced or imported fuels must conform to these standards to receive sale or import licenses.
The gasoline standards include both composition and performance standards. The items covered by composition standards are physical and chemical properties such as benzene content, sulfur content, Reid vapor pressure (RVP) and oxygen content. Performance standards regulate emissions of pollutants such as volatile organic compounds (VOCs), nitrogen oxides (NOx), and olefins when gasoline is burned in an engine.
The standards divide motor vehicle gasolines into three grades. To be imported into or sold in Taiwan, gasoline products must conform at least to the standards for the lowest grade, grade 3. Those which meet the standards for grades 2 or 1 are encouraged with lower air pollution prevention charges.
The standard for diesel fuels merely requires that sulfur content must not exceed 500 ppm.
To prevent different grades of fuel being intermixed after delivery to fuel depots or filling stations, both central and local authorities may make spot checks and collect samples from refineries, depots, storage tanks and points of sale. Where fuel does not conform to the standards, fines from NT$100,000 to NT$1 million may be imposed under the Air Pollution Control Act.