China's Finance Ministry has retroactively exempted consumption tax on pure biodiesel made from waste animal fats or vegetable oils, and will refund taxes already paid over the last two years. The policy is backdated to January 1, 2009, the ministry said in a statement on its website late on Friday (www.mof.gov.cn). It will make the production of biodiesel cheaper by 900 yuan ($135.4) per tonne, it added.
The move is aimed at "boosting the renewable resources sector, easing demand for petroleum and protecting the ecological environment", the ministry said in a statement. It will make biodiesel producers more competitive in the fuel sector and help ensure waste edible oils are not reused for human consumption, it added. China aims to produce 2 million tonnes of biodiesel by 2020 and almost all of its current facilities use waste cooking oil.