Category: Policy
Statement by Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack on meeting with Mexico’s Secretary of Agriculture
Tweet In Mexico, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack today issued the following statement following his meeting with Mexico’s new Secretary of Agriculture, Enrique Martínez y Martínez, which reads in part: “In our wide-ranging discussions, Secretary Martínez and I committed to reenergize and revitalize the U.S.-Mexico Consultative Committee on Agriculture, a forum that will enable us to [...]
Ethanol prices settles
Tweet In India, after years of battling between sugar mills and oil companies over the fair market price for ethanol, the price has finally been set at INR35 (62 cents), up from INR27 as had been set by a cabinet committee a few years ago as a temporary measure until a fairer pricing formula could [...]
California legislator proposes dropping ethanol mandate from RFS
Tweet In California, Assemblymember Kristin Olsen (R- Modesto) introduced AJR 21, which would urge Congress to swiftly enact House Resolution 1462, the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) Reform Act of 2013, to revise the requirements of the Renewable Standard program in order to alleviate the impact of rising feed costs. The RFS Reform Act will eliminate corn-based [...]
Mexico and US talking over sugar-for-ethanol trade deal
Tweet In Washington, the American Sugar Alliance says the US and Mexican governments are in discussions about the possibility of using some of Mexico’s surplus sugar as ethanol feedstock that is later re-exported back to Mexico. Under NAFTA, Mexican sugar enters the US market duty-free but with an over-supplied sugar market at the moment, the [...]
Iowa Senate approves ethanol tax break extension
Tweet In Iowa, the Senate has approved a tax break for ethanol that continues the current rate of taxation, $0.20 per gallon, for another year. Without the extension, the fuel would be taxed at $0.21 per gallon. The House has yet to approve the change. The House has also seen an amendment that would gradually [...]
RFS loophole for imported ethanol may be closed in new Senate bill
Tweet In Washington, an “unintentional” subsidization of foreign ethanol imports created by the RFS may be closed with a new bill introduced by Sens. Bob Corker (R-TN) and Joe Manchin (D-WV). The Foreign Fuels Reduction Act, the Senators argue, has created an incentive to import biofuels by not requiring volume requirements for the advanced and [...]
Quality Assurance Providers submit details of RIN integrity programs
Tweet In Washington, as part of the EPA Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) for RIN integrity, QAP providers were required to submit details of their QAP-A replacement plans to the EPA by May 1, 2013. Under the NPRM, the QAP-A RIN provides an obligated party zero liability if the RIN is ever to be found [...]
Argentina makes official complaint at the WTO against the EU
Tweet In Switzerland, Argentina has made an official complaint against the European Union at the World Trade Organizations in the latest chapter in their on-going spat over alleged biodiesel dumping. Argentina is complaining about specific trade policies in Belgium, Spain, Poland, France and Italy.
ePURE asks European Commission to investigate potential illegal US trade
Tweet In Belgium, ePURE has asked the European Commission to investigate if EU customs legislation is properly applied in Finland. Evidence from several sources indicates that ethanol blended with gasoline coming from the US and destined for the EU market will be classified as an ethanol blend with much lower import duties than denatured ethanol, [...]
Rusting ethanol plant all that remains of Nepal’s E10 dreams
Tweet In Nepal, despite the government imposing an E10 blend for all public transport vehicles as of January 2004, the policy remains unimplemented and the country’s sole ethanol plant—built in 2004 at Shree Ram Sugar Mills at Gadura—has never come online other than for trial runs when it was first constructed. The country imports 150,000 [...]
