More about Italy

On 16th August, I contacted Italian customs to ask about whether a tourist in Italy can legally use vegetable oil to fuel their car. Two and a half months later, they have replied. They don't say there is any specific rule against the fuel, but it does appear that there is no way for a private individual to use it legally. This is because it is illegal to use it without paying a tax and "current provisions do not provide" for private individuals to pay the tax. There may be a way round this if a company buys the fuel, pays the tax and sells it to the individual - does anyone know of any companies doing this in Italy?

Dear Sir,

in reply to your question, we would like to state beforehand that the Community provisions concerning excise duties on energy products establish the principle according to which “any product intended for use, offered for sale or used as motor fuel, or as an additive or extender in motor fuels, shall be taxed as motor fuel” (Article 2, paragraph 3, of Directive 92/81/EEC, as also stated in Article 2, paragraph 3, second sentence of Council Directive 2003/96/EC of 27 October 2003). On the subject, we specify that the excise duty falls due on entry for home use, and the obligation has to be met, among the others, by the taxpayer to whom the conditions for the payment of the duty apply.
That being stated, seed oil, whenever used as motor fuel, must be taxed at the same rate as the equivalent fuel (gas oil); current provisions do not provide for the specific case of a private consumer paying the tax; it is nonetheless true that an individual who purchases seed oil on the free market and uses it in his car tank becomes a taxable person, for the purposes of excise duties, since the utilization of the fuel is taxable even though the product is tax free.
In other words, the use itself gives rise to the application of the duty.

Distinti saluti
Ufficio del Direttore dell'Agenzia
Comunicazione e relazioni esterne

Slovakia

Vegetable oil as a fuel seems to be legal and free of tax in Slovakia. This applies to both pure vegetable oil and waste vegetable oil, although collecting waste oil may be subject to controls.

The law on taxing motor fuels is Act 98/2004 on the Excise Duty on Mineral Oil, as amended by act 667/2004. The law specifically taxes mineral oils, which don't include vegetable oil.

There are provisions in the law about mixing "biogenic" material into fossil fuels. This specifically allows things from chapter 15 of the Customs Nomenclature "Animal or vegetable fats and oils and their cleavage products; prepared edible fats; animal or vegetable waxes.". While these sections of the act aren't directly relevant to someone using straight vegetable oil, they do implicitly acknowledge that vegetable oil can be used as an ingredient of fuel, and that it isn't taxed.

Here are links to the two acts, in English:
http://www.finance.gov.sk/EN/Documents/1_Adresar_redaktorov/Fuleova/Mineral_oil_98_2004.pdf
http://www.finance.gov.sk/EN/Documents/1_Adresar_redaktorov/Fuleova/Mineral_oil_667_2004.pdf

Croatia

Croatian customs officials told us that it is legal and we are welcome to bring our "machine" to their country and run it on any kind of vegetable oil we choose. The officials were concerned that the oil available in Croatia might not be the correct type for the engine, but we can work this out when we get there - the car will run on a wide variety of different oils.

Luxembourg

Information about the law in Luxembourg has been hard to find.

Customs officials in Luxembourg have told us that there doesn't seem to be a law against it.

This suggests that you can use SVO and WVO, although collecting waste is presumably restricted to registered waste carriers, in the same way that it is in other EU countries.


If anyone has any more definitive information about using vegetable oil as a road fuel in Luxembourg, please let us know.

Illegal in Italy

According to italian customs officials, it is illegal to use vegetable oil as a road fuel in Italy.
This applies to all kinds of vegetable oil.
If you are caught doing it, you can be fined thousands of Euros.

Biodiesel is allowed.

Slovenia

In Slovenia, it is legal and untaxable to use Straight Vegetable Oil as a motor fuel, provided it is compatible with the engine and meets their emissions standards.
I think waste vegetable oil would be taxed as a diesel substitute, as it isn't classed as a biofuel.

This EU report talks about pure vegetable oil in Slovenia:
http://ec.europa.eu/energy/res/legislation/doc/biofuels/member_states/2007_rapports/2003_30_sl_report_en.pdf

It says:"The Excise Duty Act (Slovenian Official Gazette No 84/98, last amended inNo 122/06), which exempts biofuels used as motor fuels from the excise inspection and payment system when used in their pure form."

It goes on to explain that the definition of biofuels for transport includes:"oil produced from plants through pressing, extraction or comparable procedures, crude or refined but chemically unmodified, when compatible with the type of engines involved and the corresponding emission requirements (hereinafter: pure vegetable oil)."

I haven't yet located a copy of the Slovenian Official Gazette No 122/06 to confirm what the EU report says, but I did find an unofficial translation of an earlier version of the law, which doesn't allow SVO:
http://www.mf.gov.si/slov/dav_car/pravilnik_trosarine_ang.pdf

Switzerland

The Swiss currently tax imported vegetable oil, although there are proposals to change this law. If the oil is to be used as road fuel, the rate is the same as if it were mineral oil, making it very expensive. I have been told that you won't be taxed if you bring in two litres of vegetable oil, plus whattever is in the fuel tank.

Vegetable Oil that is produced at pilot and demonstration plants, recognised by the Agriculture Office, is free of tax, and legal to use as a fuel. Other vegetable oil (including waste vegetable oil) from non-approved sources would be liable to the mineral oil tax.

This report contains lots of background information.
http://www.globalsubsidies.org/IMG/pdf/Swiss_Support_to_Biofuels2.pdf

Waste Vegetable Oil in the EU

There are international agreements on the transportation of waste.

Waste vegetable oil is treated as waste and therefore you need to register with a competent authority in order to collect, import or tansport it. Here is a list of bodies you can register with:
http://ec.europa.eu/environment/waste/shipments/pdf/list_competent_authorities.pdf
If you are planning on traveling across borders, I think you need to register in each country individually.

When taking waste edible oils from one EU country to another for recycling as fuel, you do not need to notify the authorities each time.
http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/site/en/consleg/1993/R/01993R0259-20020101-en.pdf
http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=OJ:L:2006:190:0001:01:EN:HTML

Belgium

To use waste vegetable oil as a fuel is illegal in Belgium.
To use straight vegetable oil is legal and tax free, as long as you buy it from one of the registered oil producers. To use vegetable oil from any other source is illegal.

I have a list of 11 registered oil producers, but the list says it is not exhaustive. They are farmers and cooperatives of farmers. If you'd like a copy of the list, in PDF format, please contact me.

Illegal in France

In France, it is illegal to run a car on vegetable oil. People have been arrested for it, although I have not heard of any convictions. It is unclear what the penalty is in french law, but it is clear that it is illegal. Apparently, the french government is planning to change the law to make it clear that only farmers and village communities can use vegetable oil as a fuel, and only under certain conditions.

French customs officials vary in their approach to the issue and many people seem to get past them without problems, including one person who crosses from Switzerland to France every day - he says they don't stop him because he has Swiss number plates, though this doesn't make it legal. On the other hand, I have read an account from someone who recently had problems getting through customs from the UK to France. Their vehicle was capable of running on vegetable oil or diesel oil and they had to convince the officials that they would be using diesel oil in France.

So it is clear that for any private car to use vegetable oil in France is illegal, but it isn't clear what the penalty is, or whether foreign cars can get away with breaking the law.

Most vegetable oil cars should also be able to run on biodiesel, which is legal in France, although it isn't as good for the environment.

Austria

Pure vegetable oil (or Reines Pflanzenöl, as they call it in German) is totally legal and tax free in Austria.
The Mineral Oil Tax Law (BGBl. I No 180/2004) was amended by the Tax Amendment Law of 30 December 2004, making Pure biofuels completely exempt from mineral oil tax.

More information can be found (in English) in this report:
http://www.ebb-eu.org/legis/AUSTRIA_2nd%20report%20Dir2003_30_at_report_EN.pdf

Using waste vegetable oil is also legal, but collecting it is not. It is legal to drive into Austria with a tank full of WVO and filling up with SVO in Austria, but you must not collect WVO while you are in the country.

This law on waste oils is covered by section 16 of the 2002 Abfallwirtschaftsgesetz (refuse economy law) and it carries hefty fines. If you understand german, you can read the full law here: http://portal.tugraz.at/pls/portal/docs/page/Files/Services/gut/files/abfallwirtschaft/AWG%202002%20idF%2013-8-05.pdf
The most important section for WVO is this:
(6) Altspeisefette und -öle sind getrennt zu sammeln und einemberechtigten Abfallsammler oder -behandler zu übergeben.Altspeisefette und -öle sind einer Verwertung zuzuführen, soferndies ökologisch zweckmäßig und technisch möglich ist und dies nichtmit unverhältnismäßigen Kosten verbunden ist.

Thank you to soizbuag on youtube.com for sending me this information.

Transporting vegetable oil across borders

If you are travelling around Europe using the power of straight vegetable oil, it is likely that you will transport some of the oil across national borders (e.g. in your fuel tank). Customs rules apply at each border. Additional rules may apply to waste vegetable oil, because it is a waste product.

This page from the Europa website gives the SVO situation in the EU: http://europa.eu/travel/shop/index_en.htm
It seems you can transport as much vegetable oil as you wish between EU countries, as long as it is for personal use. It doesn't say that personal use can't include putting it into your fuel tank, assuming it is legal in your destination country.
The Europa website also says you can import other goods (e.g. vegetable oil) into the EU as long as the goods are for personal use and not worth more than €300.

Note that customs rules are not symmetrical - i.e. the rule for transporting SVO from the EU into Switzerland is not necessarily the same as for transporting it from Switzerland into the EU. I have been told that you can only import 2 litres of vegetable oil into Switzerland at a time.

Law in the United Kingdom

Firstly, I should point out that we are not lawyers and you should check for yourself before depending on this information.

If you are using straight vegetable oil as a fuel, or producing it for others to use as a fuel, you should read this HMRC brief:
http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/briefs/excise-duty/brief4307.htm

If you use/produce less than 2500 litres of vegetable oil per year, then you should not need to register with HMRC or pay any duty on the oil, but you will need to keep some records: You should record the date of production and quantity produced in litres.

Larger users/producers will need to "make entry" by sending in a form EX103. You will need to keep records and pay their duty every month or quarter using form HO930. It is not clear to me whether larger producers should be paying the rate of tax for sulphur-free diesel or the reduced rate for biodiesel. HMRC seem to think you should pay the higher rate, but most people seem to believe that the lower rate applies. The answer seems to boil down to a simple chemistry question about the ester content of vegetable oil, but I have not yet seen a convincing answer either way. Before 30th June, this procedure applied to all users of vegetable oil as a fuel, so I made entry and paid duty on the fuel I was using. Because of the uncertainty, I paid the higher rate of 48.35p per litre, rather than the biodiesel rate of 28.35p per litre. Making entry is free and relatively fast - It took just over a week.

If you are using waste vegetable oil, all of the above applies, plus you will need to check that you can legally use waste oil.

If you are dealing with waste oil from other people or businesses located in England or Wales, you must register with the Environment Agency. Their website is http://www.environment-agency.gov.uk/. Registering involves a fairly long form and currently costs £149 for the first three years, plus an extra £5 if you want a plastic card. The process takes about two months. Once you are registered, you can collect and use waste oil as long as you keep records and dispose of the waste in an environmentally friendly manner.

If you are dealing with waste oil in Scotland, you need to register with the Scottish Environment Protection Agency. Their website is http//www.sepa.org.uk. In Northern Ireland, the appropriate body is the Hazardous Waste/TFS Section of the Land and Resource Management Unit, Environment and Heritage Service. Their phone number is 028 90569313.

If you are using your own waste vegetable oil, rather than collecting waste from other people, you may not need to register as a waste carrier, but please check with the appropriate Agency.