G/TBT/W/465  
21 March  2018 
(18-1709) Page: 1/2 
Committee on Technical Barriers to Trade  Original:  Spanish  
 
  
EUROPEAN UNION - SPECIFIC TRADE CONCERN REGARDING THE AMENDMENTS  
TO DIRECTIVE 2009/28/EC ON TH E PROMOTION OF THE USE OF  
ENERGY FROM RENEWABLE SOURCES - PRESENTED  BY THE  
EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT ON 17 JANUARY 2018  
STATEMENT BY COLOMBIA TO THE COMMITTEE ON TECHNICAL BARRIERS TO TRADE , 
21 AND 22  MARCH  2018 
The following communication, dated 2 0 March  2018, is being circulated at the request of the 
delegation of Colombia . 
 
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1.  Colombia appreciates the intention of the European Union to adopt a public policy to protect the 
environment through the promotion of the use of energy from renewable sources.  
2.  However, Colombia shares the concern expressed by Malaysia, Thailand and Indone sia that the 
enactment of the policy should be undertaken in a manner that is not more restrictive than 
necessary and does not subsequently create an unnecessary barrier to trade . In our view, the 
measure to be adopted would be inconsistent with the nation al treatment and MFN obligations 
contained in Article 2.1 of the TBT Agre ement and in Articles I:1  and III :4 of the GATT 1994.  
3.  It is our understanding that the amendments suggested by the European Parliament on 
17 January  2018 do not constitute the final v ersion of this proposal for a directive , and that the EU 
legislative process provi des the possibility for other EU bodies to  suggest further amendments to 
the proposed directive . However, Colombia believes that it is important at this stage to record its 
concerns with regard to the WTO –consistency of these amendments, particularly the provisions 
that affect biofuels produced  from palm oil.  
4.  We must bear in mind that the proposed directive provides, as a target  for 2030, that energy 
from renewa ble sources should account for at least 35 % of all energy consumption in the 
European Union and at least 12 % of the energy consumed by all forms of transport . Key to  this 
target  is the definition of the term "energy from renewable sources", since Article 2  lists the 
different types of energy that qualify as "energy from renewable sources", including energy 
produced from biomass ; so that in principle , biofuels produced from palm oil would be included in 
the definition and taken into account in calculating th e EU members'  consumption of energy from 
renewable sources, since Article 7 of the proposed directive permits the use of food -based biofuels 
in transport up to a maximum of 7 % of final energy consumption.  
5.  However, this Article stipulates  that "[t]he contri bution from biofuels and bioliquids produced 
from palm oil shall be 0 % from 2021" ; in other words it expressly states that biofuels produced 
from palm oil would not count towards the target for road and rail transport from 2021 onwards . 
This creates a clea r disincentive for transport operators to use biofuels produced from palm oil, 
since t hey could not report this as  consumption of energy from renewable source s; so that it would 
be more difficult for the EU countries to achieve the minimum levels for consu mption of energy 
from renewable sources.  
6.  Colombia considers the mentioned provision to be discriminatory in that it will not affect like 
products such as  fuels produced from other types of vegetable oil, for instance  colza or 
sunflower -seed oil, and this is inconsistent with the obligation contained  in Article 2.1 of the G/TBT/W/465  
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  TBT Agreement and Article I:1 of the GATT 1994 . Moreover, since the proposed measure favours 
vegetable oils produced in the EU, it also violates the principle of national treatment contained in 
Article 2.1 of the TBT Agreement and Article III:4 of the GATT 1994.  
7.  All of this discourages  the use of biofuels produced from palm oil, and would have a 
disproportionately negative impact in Colombia,  which is a producer of palm oil . We would  
therefore  be grateful if the EU would explain  how it reconciles this discriminatory treatment against 
palm oil producing countries with its WTO obligations on national and MFN treatment.  
8.  Finally, Colombia appreciates this  opportunity to make  these observa tions, and looks forward to 
the EU's replies to its questions.  
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