Africans choking on toxic fuel in health "ticking time bomb" -lobby group (updated)

Forza Petroleum

16/09/2016 16:44

* Campaign group calls on trading houses to change practice 
    * Fuel sold in Africa has 200 times the sulphur of Europe's 
    * Industry says change rests with governments 
 
 (Adds comment from Trafigura and Puma Energy) 
    By Libby George 
    LAGOS, Sept 16 (Reuters) - Much of Africa's population is 
being choked by deadly fuels that are banned in Europe and the 
United States, a campaign group said on Friday, blaming the 
international trading firms that sell high-sulphur fuels to the 
continent. 
    Public Eye, a Swiss-based group that campaigns on fair 
trade, public health and other issues, said low quality 
standards that permit on average 200 times the sulphur content 
of Europe's fuels allowed the sale of dirty-but-cheaper products 
that will "jeopardize the health of millions of people." 
    "Swiss traders and others maximize profits by taking 
advantage of weak regulations to produce and sell harmful 
fuels," Public Eye said. "This form of regulatory arbitrage 
ignores the serious risks to public health." 
    In its report, "Dirty Diesel", it calls on Swiss-based firms 
Trafigura, Addax & Oryx and Vitol, to sell only fuels that meet 
higher regulatory standards.  
    It described the issue as a "ticking time bomb" as cities 
grow across Africa and populations boom in places such as 
Nigeria's Lagos and Ghana's Accra.  
    Vitol said it complied with all government regulations, and 
could not control by itself the quality of fuel sold at the 
pump.  
    Puma Energy, partially owned by Trafigura, with retail 
stations and infrastructure across Africa, said it complied with 
national specifications and that selling fuel at higher 
specification was logistically impossible. 
    Addax & Oryx did not immediately respond to requests for 
comment. 
    The African Refining Association (ARA), a non-profit group 
that represents the continent's downstream sector, said that 
changing the actions of the trading houses alone would not fix 
the problem. 
    "If Swiss traders followed the report recommendation today 
their role would be filled by (possibly less reputable) traders 
from other nations," the ARA said. 
    "The role of improving fuel quality in Africa clearly rests 
with African governments, not with the fuel suppliers." 
    The ARA said it had been pressing governments in tandem with 
the United Nations Environment Programme.  
    Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda and Morocco have increased fuel 
quality requirements.  
    But higher quality means higher costs, and with many 
countries facing severe shortages in public finances, they are 
wary of angering their populations with higher pump prices. 
 urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL8N1BP3E6 
    "The bottom line is that governments have competing 
priorities for available funds," said David Bleasdale, of CITAC 
Africa Ltd, a consultancy that focuses on the African downstream 
sector. 
 
 (Additional reporting by Julia Payne in London; Editing by John 
Stonestreet and Robin Pomeroy) 
 ((Libby.George@thomsonreuters.com; Reuters Messaging: 
libby.george@thomsonreuters.com)) 
 
Keywords: FUELS POLLUTION/AFRICA