belgiquelex.be - Carrefour Bank of Legislation

10 JUIN 2006. - Biofuels Act (1)

ALBERT II, King of the Belgians,
To all, present and to come, Hi.
The House of Representatives adopted and sanctioned the following:
Article 1^er. This Act regulates a matter referred to in Article 78 of the Constitution.
Art. 2. § 1^er. Section 419 of the Program Act of 27 December 2004, last amended by the Program Act of 27 December 2005, is amended as follows:
(1) (a), (b) and (c) shall be replaced by the following provisions:
"(a) leaded petrol under NC 2710 11 31, 2710 11 51 and 2710 11 59:
- excise fee: EUR 245,4146 per 1,000 litres at 15 °C;
- special excise fee: 363,4974 EUR per 1,000 liters at 15° C;
- energy contribution: 28,6317 EUR per 1,000 liters at 15° C;
(b) unleaded petrol under NC 2710 11 49:
(i) High sulphur and aromatic content:
- excise fee: EUR 245,4146 per 1,000 litres at 15 °C;
- special excise fee: 363, 4974 EUR per 1,000 litres at 15 °C;
- energy contribution: 28.6317 EUR per 1,000 litres at 15 °C;
(ii) * low sulphur and aromatic content:
- excise fee: EUR 245,4146 per 1,000 litres at 15 °C;
- special excise fee: EUR 348.6238 per 1,000 litres at 15 °C;
- energy contribution: 28.6317 EUR per 1,000 litres at 15 °C;
** with low sulphur and aromatic content, supplemented to at least 7% vol of bioethanol under NC 2207 10 00 of a volumic alcoometric title of at least 99% vol, pure or in the form of EETBE under NC 2909 19 00, and not of synthetic origin:
- excise fee: EUR 245,4146 per 1,000 litres at 15 °C;
- special excise fee: EUR 305,0369 per 1,000 litres at 15 °C;
- energy contribution: 28.6317 EUR per 1,000 litres at 15 °C;
(c) unleaded petrol under NC 2710 11 41 and 2710 11 45:
(i) not mixed:
- excise fee: EUR 245,4146 per 1,000 litres at 15 °C;
- special excise fee: EUR 348.6238 per 1,000 litres at 15 °C;
- energy contribution: 28.6317 EUR per 1,000 litres at 15 °C;
(ii) supplemented to not less than 7% vol of bioethanol under NC 2207 10 00 of a volumic alcoometric title of not less than 99% vol, pure or in the form of EBT under NC 2909 19 00, and not of synthetic origin:
- excise fee: EUR 245,4146 per 1,000 litres at 15 °C;
- special excise fee: EUR 305,0369 per 1,000 litres at 15 °C;
- Energy contribution: 28,6317 EUR per 1,000 liters at 15 °C.
The special excise fee rates of 363,4974 EUR, 348,6238 EUR and 305,0369 EUR per 1,000 liters at 15° C are those calculated on 7 March 2006. »
2° (e), (i), is replaced by the following provision:
"(i) used as fuel:
- excise fee: EUR 198.3148 per 1,000 litres at 15 °C;
- special excise fee: 153,9306 EUR per 1,000 litres at 15 °C;
- Energy contribution: EUR 14.836 per 1,000 liters at 15 °C.
The special excise fee rate of 153.9306 EUR per 1,000 litres at 15 °C is the one in effect on March 7, 2006. »
3° (f), (i), is replaced by the following provision:
"(i) used as fuel:
* not mixed
- excise fee: EUR 198.3148 per 1,000 litres at 15 °C;
- special excise fee: 139,0570 EUR per 1,000 litres at 15 °C;
- Energy contribution: EUR 14.836 per 1,000 litres at 15 °C;
** completed up to at least 3.37 % EMAG flight of NC 3824 90 99 and corresponding to NBN-EN 14214:
- excise fee: EUR 198.3148 per 1,000 litres at 15 °C;
- special excise fee: EUR 127.1863 per 1,000 litres at 15 °C;
- Energy contribution: EUR 14.836 per 1,000 liters at 15 °C.
Special excise fee rates of EUR 139.0570 and EUR 127.1863 per 1,000 litres at 15 °C are those in effect on March 7, 2006. »
§ 2. The provisions of § 1^er, 1°, come into force on 1^er October 2007. The provisions of § 1^er, 2° and 3°, come into force on 1^er November 2006.
Art. 3. Excise rates referred to in Article 419, (b) (ii) **, (c) (ii) and (f) (i) **, of the Programme Law of 27 December 2004, as amended by Article 2, § 1^er, as well as those established in accordance with Article 8, § 2, are applied to the energy products they aim to which the percentage of biofuel they contain comes exclusively from production units approved by the customs administration and accesses after notice of the Accreditation Commission, and after agreement of the Council of Ministers, on the procedure for appeal for applications published in the Official Journal of the European Union.
Art. 4. § 1^er. The Accreditation Commission referred to in Article 3 is composed of four officials designated by the Federal Minister of Finance, the Federal Minister of the Environment, the Federal Minister of Economy and the Federal Minister of Agriculture respectively. The King sets out the operating conditions of this Commission.
§ 2. The Accreditation Commission:
- prepares the call for applications for operators and publishes it in the Official Journal of the European Union;
- establishes the guide for the candidate operators;
- selects and proposes to the Council of Ministers, the operators who can claim an approval and assigns them a volume of biofuel that can benefit from the exemption of the excise during their consumption in Belgium;
- examines all matters and conducts all controls relating to the application of this Article.
§ 3. The validity of the certificates issued shall not exceed six years.
§ 4. In the event of an assignment for consumption in the country of a volume less than that set out in the approval granted to the operator, the administration of customs and accises may, after agreement of the Accreditation Commission, reduce it to due competition for one or more subsequent years.
In this case, the Accreditation Commission undertakes a new assignment of the volume released between the other licensed operators, in competition with the volumes allocated.
§ 5. The approvals are granted to the following maximum volumes:
(a) products referred to in Article 419, (b) (ii) ** and (c) (ii) of the Programme Law of 27 December 2004, as amended by Article 2, § 1^er :
- 1^er October 2007 to 31 December 2007: 48,000 litres;
- for the years 2008 to 2012:
250,000 litres per year;
- 1^er January 2013 to 30 September 2013: 187,500,000 litres.
(b) products referred to in Article 419, (f) (i) ** of the Programme Law of 27 December 2004, as amended by Article 2, § 1^er :
- 1^er November 2006 to 30 September 2007: 286,000 litres;
- 1^er October 2007 to 31 December 2008: 475,000 litres;
- for the years 2009 to 2012: 380,000 litres per year;
- 1^er January 2013 to 30 September 2013: 284,000 litres. »
Art. 5. Any application filed following the call for applications referred to in Article 3 shall contain:
a) a commitment to the honour by which the operator certifies to act in accordance with the social, fiscal and environmental regulations of the member State in the territory of which the production unit is installed;
(b) a descriptive technical report of its production unit showing its production capacity and capacity to produce biofuel in accordance with the technical specifications imposed in Belgium;
(c) the minimum and maxima volumes for which the operator participates in the call for applications;
(d) a note on the CO balance sheet². This CO assessment², per litre of biofuel produced, is the difference between emission and CO absorption² throughout the production cycle, from raw materials to biofuel use;
(e) a list of investments made specifically for the production of biofuels with their technical characteristics and costs as well as a note on the energy efficiency of the production unit (renewable energy ratio produced divided by the primary energy consumed) detailing, in addition, the measures taken to meet environmental measures (part of environmental investments versus global investment);
(f) a note indicating:
- the forecasting cost of biofuel in the starting position of the production unit. This price is expressed in EUR/hl based on the price of different raw materials (expressed in EUR/tonne of raw material) and the price of fossil energy (expressed in EUR/baril) in the form consumed for biofuel production;
- the commercial value of expected sale of biofuel when placing on the market; is also compared to the corresponding fossil fuel price (expressed in EUR/hl),
calculated on assumptions where the operator receives between 0 and 25%, between 25% and 50% or between 50% and 75% of the volume of biofuel to be assigned;
(g) a commitment to provide an annual report during the licence term on the evolution of volume, origin and supplies of raw materials of agricultural origin in relation to the production of biofuel;
(h) a commitment to ensure that biofuels are sold to companies established in Belgium that produce their mixture and consumption, along with a trade policy note;
(i) a commitment to provide, upon request by the Accreditation Commission, samples collected at its expense by experts mandated by the Commission;
(j) a commitment to provide an annual report on biofuel production, quality controls and the outcome of these controls; this report mentions the names and addresses of companies established in Belgium to which biofuel has been sold;
(k) a relative note:
* the supply plan for raw materials of agricultural origin (has mobilized, supply radius) comprising:
- the level of fertilizer application per hectare (intensive degree of exploitation), the surferous diversity of assimilation (crop alternation), the level of application per class of active substances and per hectare (pesticide use);
- the demonstration that over a period of at least 3 years, the operator has an approving safety of:
- 50% of the volume of raw materials for bioethanol production,
- 15% of the volume of raw materials, for the production of EMAG,
* in the biofuel distribution plan since the production unit.
Art. 6. § 1^er. Operators who have introduced a regular application are selected on the basis of the following criteria:
(a) real capacity to produce a biofuel that meets the technical specifications imposed by Belgium in accordance with the social, fiscal and environmental regulations of the member State concerned;
(b) security of supply of the agricultural raw materials production unit;
(c) capacity to deliver biofuel to companies located in Belgium for consumption;
(d) Supply of agricultural raw materials obtained by the lowest fertilizer and pesticide application;
(e) the shortest distance between crop surfaces and production unit;
(f) CO balance² the most favourable;
(g) energy efficiency of the highest production unit;
(h) The lowest forecasting cost of biofuel;
(i) Lowest commercial value of sale, when marketed.
The criteria referred to in (h) and (i) are assessed in the assumptions where the operator receives between 0 and 25%, between 25% and 50% or between 50% and 75% of the volume of biofuel to be assigned.
§ 2. Operators who meet the criteria set out in (a) to (c) are ranked for each of the criteria set out in (d) to (i) on the understanding that the assessment of the criteria referred to in (h) and (i) generates three separate classification tables.
The classification in these tables is the result of a weighting determined by the occupied position, for each of the criteria referred to in letters d) to i), by the different operators. A final classification order is established beginning with the operator who obtained the lowest total weighting. In the case of ex aequo, the classification in the criterion referred to in (i) is decisive.
The three tables to be retained are those that allow the operator to be assigned the quantity for which the operator is best classified regardless of the reported volumes. In case of ex aequo, this same reasoning is applied successively to the operators who follow it in the three tables.
§ 3. The volume of biofuel that can benefit from the exoneration of the excise during consumption in Belgium is attributed to at least two operators without exceeding four operators.
This volume is assigned according to the proportionality rules. No attribution can be more than 75% of the volume of biofuel to be attributed.
Art. 7. § 1^er. The person who wishes to consume energy products in the country at the excise rates referred to in Article 419, (b) (ii) **, (c) (ii), and (f) (i) **, of the programme law of 27 December 2004, as amended by Article 2, § 1^er, as well as those established in accordance with Article 8, § 2, shall be registered with the Customs and Excise Administration in accordance with the procedure established by the Minister of Finance. This registration that results in the issuance of an authorization is subject to the filing of a guarantee whose calculation terms are fixed by the Minister of Finance.
§ 2. The declaration of consumption of energy products affected by the excise rates referred to in Article 419, (b) (ii) **, (c) (ii), and (f) (i) **, of the programme law of 27 December 2004, as amended by Article 2, § 1^er, is supplemented by references to authorization granted to the person referred to in § 1^er. In addition, when it is related to energy products affected by the excise rates established in accordance with Article 8, § 2, the references to the authorization granted by the customs administration and access to the regional public transport company must also be mentioned.
§ 3. For January 31 of each year, the persons referred to in § 1^er, must file with the employee designated by the Director General of the Customs and Excise Administration, a file demonstrating that, for all consumer declarations filed during the previous calendar year with the application of the excise rates referred to in section 419, (b) (ii) **, (c) (ii), and (f) (i) **, of the program law of 27 December 2004, as amended § 1^eras well as those established in accordance with Article 8, § 2, they have respected the legal percentages of biofuel incorporation.
This respect is demonstrated by the purchase invoices of a sufficient volume of biofuels from approved production units; this volume must at least be equal to the total volume of biofuels corresponding to the percentages of incorporation referred to in the consumer declarations filed.
These purchase invoices must be accepted by the customs administration prior to the preparation of consumer declarations and must be accessed according to the procedure established by the Minister of Finance.
The file must be supported:
(a) invoices for the purchase of biofuels accepted by the Customs and Excise Administration;
(b) as appropriate:
- originals of copies 2 of the accompanying administrative documents relating to biofuels received from the approved production unit;
- copies of copies of copies 1 of the accompanying administrative documents relating to the biofuels that they sent by the registered production unit to a third party;
- in case of shipment of biofuels to a third party, originals of copies 2 of the accompanying administrative documents relating to mixed energy products, addressed to them by that third party;
(c) consumer statements and their possible annexes.
§ 4. When the legal percentages of incorporation are not reached, and without prejudice to the application of the fine provided for in Article 436 of the Programme Law of 27 December 2004, the volume resulting from the difference between the volume of incorporation to be attained and that actually obtained is subject to the payment of the excise at the highest rate taken, according to the relevant energy product species, in Article 419 (b §^er. In addition, the authorization referred to in § 1^er can be removed. In this case, an administrative remedy may be introduced on the basis of Chapter XXIII of the General Customs and Access Act.
Art. 8. § 1^er. Percentages of incorporation greater than those referred to in Article 419, (b) (ii) **, (c) (ii), and (f) (i) **, of the Programme Law of 27 December 2004, as amended by Article 2, § 1^er, are permitted when the fuel is intended for the needs of regional public transit companies. These companies must be recognized with the customs administration and granted according to the procedure established by the Minister of Finance.
In support of the application for recognition under paragraph 1^er, the persons concerned must attach a derogation decision issued in accordance with Article 3, § 2, of the Royal Decree of 4 March 2005 on the names and characteristics of biofuels and other renewable fuels for motor vehicles and non-road mobile machinery.
§ 2. In the situation referred to in § 1^er, the amount of special excise duty set out in Article 419, (f) (i) *, of the programme law of 27 December 2004, as amended by Article 2, § 1^er, is reduced in such a way as to take into account the differential price of return between biofuel and the fossil energy to which it replaces. This amount is obtained by applying the following formula:
X = Y (1-a) - A - C
where
X = the amount of special excise charge on mixed fuel. This amount cannot be less than 0;
Y = excise rate on unmixed fuel;
a = the percentage of biofuel added;
A = the right to excise on unmixed fuel;
C = the energy contribution rate on unmixed fuel.
Art. 9. In section 429, § 5, of the Programme Law of 27 December 2004, as amended by the Programme Law of 27 December 2005, it is added a 6, as follows:
“6) From 1^er November 2006, the refund of the special excise duty, which is referred to in (1), is made at the special excise rate referred to in section 419, (f) (i) **."
Promulgation of this law, let us order that it be clothed with the seal of the State and published by the Belgian Monitor.
Given in Brussels on 10 June 2006.
ALBERT
By the King:
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance,
D. REYNDERS
Seal of the State Seal:
The Minister of Justice,
Ms. L. ONKELINX
____
Notes
(1) Zitting 2005/2006.
House of Representatives:
Documents. - Bill No. 1. - Amendments, No. 2. - Report, number three. - Text corrected by commission, number 4. - Text adopted in plenary and transmitted to the Senate, No. 5.
Full report: 18 May 2006.
Senate:
Documents. - Project not referred to by the Senate, No. 1.