ESMA to standardize diesel specifications in the UAE

Emirates Authority for Standardization and Metrology (ESMA) will issue a regulation standardizing specifications of diesel in the UAE starting mid next year. Once issued, ESMA will begin to monitordiesel sold in all UAE petrol stations.

As for imported ones, all diesel fuel will have to obtain approval from ESMA before it is allowed entry to the UAE. Distributors will have to present a third party test report from a reputable or accredited testing laboratory, which ESMA will have to approve. Once all verification criteria are complied, ESMA will issue a certificate of conformity, which is the distributor’s clearance for its product to be allowed entry in the country.

Eng Mohammad Saleh Badri, ESMA’s Acting Director General, said:  “We are working on drafting a regulation that will regulate and control diesel in the UAE. This move aims to make sure that the quality of traded diesel in the UAE is uniform and that it complies with the UAE standard specifications.” 

“We have had very active coordination and meetings with Adnoc, Emarat, Enoc and Eppco with regard to the mechanisms in standardizing the diesel specification in the country.

We have successfully finalized the scheme and we will issue the standards as well asthe mechanism ofimplementing and monitoring the regulation by mid next year.”

ESMA will implement the programme in coordination with the UAE Customs offices, UAE Civil Defense departments, and other local authorities.

Badri added: “Monitoring the implementation of diesel sold in the UAE market will guarantee its high quality, leading to a reduction in environmental pollution. This regulation will help reduce gas emissions that are harmful to the environment caused by the burning of diesel, which is in line with the UAE’s strategy in preserving the environment.”

The emissions produced by diesel vehicles are one of the major air polluting sources in the UAE.  According to a study by Dubai Municipality, the pollution rate of vehicles using diesel in Dubai is more than 53%, while the pollution rates of the energy and industry sectors are 26% and 21%, respectively.

A study conducted under the project called On-road Vehicle Emission Measurement Using Remote Sensing Device (RSD) on Dubai roads in 2008 has revealed that the vehicle pollution in Dubai compared to American standards is around 13% (for vehicles using petrol) and is 19% (for vehicles using diesel), which are high rates compared to the developed countries as the pollution rate is 4.7% in Canada, 2.5% in Virginia US, and 2%in Michigan.

Moreover, as per the Dubai Municipality’s 2009 statistics, 75,231 diesel cars of the city produce 1,718,572kg of CO₂ daily; 2,456 diesel trucks emit 56,105kg of CO₂; 22,481 diesel buses emit 513,555kg of CO₂ per day; 24,435 heavy diesel trucks emit 558,192kg of CO₂; and 18,653 heavy diesel buses emit 426,108kg of CO₂.

The new regulation for controlling the diesel specification, due for implementation by next year, will effectively and tangibly reduce the harmful emissions to the environment, caused by vehicles, buses and trucks.