The quality of fuels in Poland has got worse - this is the conclusion of the inspections conducted by the Trade Inspection in the first half of 2007. Above 4% of the examined stations had been selling petrol or diesel fuel not compliant with quality standards

Since May 1st, 2004 the Trade Inspection, subordinated to the President of UOKiK, has been inspecting the quality of fuels at randomly chosen filling stations across Poland. During the inspection, one fuel sample is taken at each of the stations. In the first half of 2007, 270 filling stations were inspected. Almost 4.5% did not meet quality requirements, while last year this proportion was only 2.9%.

The quality of petrol marketed in Poland has got worse - the quality standards were not met by 6.29% of the samples taken (in the first half of 2006 it was only 3.65%). Also the quality of diesel fuel has got worse - 1.05% of samples were proved non-compliant (in the first half of 2006 the proportion was 0.91 %).

In January 2007, in connection with the introduction the new Act on the fuel quality monitoring and scrutinizing system, the scope of the inspections was extended. Currently, the following types of fuels are examined: liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), compressed natural gas (CNG), light and heavy fuel oil, diesel fuel for inland ships engines, bio-fuels produced by farmers for their own use and fuels used in the so-called selected vehicle fleets. Furthermore, the whole distribution chain is now under inspection, including filling stations, wholesalers, warehouses, shipping companies and fuel producers. However, due the fact that regulations implementing the new Act came into force only in the middle of this year, it become possible to conduct the inspections in their extended scope only recently.

An initial inspection of LPG performed at 100 stations in 7 different voivodeships across Poland showed that almost 30% of the gas sold did not meet quality requirements. Furthermore, for the first time, the quality of fuels in fuel trunks was tested. Overall, 27 entities were inspected and all the samples fulfilled the obligatory requirements.

To limit the negative environmental impact of non-compliant fuels, and considering the need to protect the economic interests of consumers, who pay high fuel prices rightly expecting a quality product, the scope of testing was expanded to include operational parameters. Thus, in the first half of 2007, the inspectors checked, apart from the previous parameters, also the ignition temperature in diesel fuel. As a result, 10 samples were called into question. Too high temperature causes the fall of the operation performance of the engine and the increase of the emission of chemical substances. Too low temperature creates the risk of diesel vapours exploding when the fuel is being poured from the pump to the tank in the car.

The Trade Inspection also carried out inspections at the filling stations which it held suspicious on the basis of consumer complaints and information furnished by law enforcement agencies, as well as at the filling stations which had been found to be selling non-compliant fuels in the past years. 1028 samples of petrol and diesel fuel from 533 filling stations were tested. 5.54 % of samples proved non-compliant. All samples taken at wholesalers were up to the quality standards.

The almost double increase in the number of filling stations which sold non-compliant fuel despite achieving negative results in the previous years is alarming. More than 15% of the reinspected filling stations were called into question. In the previous year this proportion was only 7.14 %.

The current law foresees rigorous sanctions for trading in non-compliant fuels: a fine of up to PLN 1 million or imprisonment for 3 months to 5 years. On the basis of the results of the inspections, 19 notifications on the suspicion of crime were submitted to the public prosecutor’s office - yet to date only 13 cases were taken up for further investigation.

The Trade Inspection also issued 5 decisions withdrawing non-compliant fuel from the market and informed voivodeship environment protection inspectorates about it.

As a result of the inspections, the President of the Energy Regulatory Office was informed about the 29 filling stations which had been found to have breached the conditions of their licence. The President of the Energy Regulatory Office initiated 21 proceedings, whereof 4 ended with the imposition of fines totalling to above PLN 77 thousand. Moreover, one enterprise’s licence was not renewed, while six other had not had any licence to trade in liquid fuels to start with.

Additional information:
Bogdan Pietrzak
Trade Inspection Chief Inspectorate
ul. Niedźwiedzia 6E, 02-737 Warszawa
Tel. (+48 22) 548 72 69, 826 06 55

Małgorzata Cieloch, Spoksperson for UOKiK
Pl. Powstańców Warszawy 1, 00-950 Warszawa
Tel. (+48 22) 827 28 92, 55 60 106, 55 60 314
faks (+48 22) 826 11 86
E-mail [SCODE]bWNpZWxvY2hAdW9raWsuZ292LnBs[ECODE]