In Brief The European Biodiesel Board (EBB) has launched a trade complaint with the European Commission, asking for action against US biodiesel exports. On 25 April, the EBB lodged its complaint against unfair subsidised biodiesel exports. Under US support policies, biofuels blended in the US with as little as one percent mineral oil — so called B99 — enjoy a subsidy benefit of one US$ per gallon. The EBB considers this practice to constitute unfair competition, and has therefore brought a joint anti-subsidy and anti-dumping complaint to the Commission. According to the EBB, "subsidised "B99" exports are a trade practice that is not only breaching WTO rules, but also threatening the very concept of international trade in biodiesel." The EBB is hoping for an investigation followed by countervailing measures against the US B99 exports. The EBB has brought up the issue at previous occasions (see Bridges Trade BioRes, 30 March 2007, http://www.ictsd.org/biores/07-03-30/story3.htm), targeting a particular problem related to triangular trade. The US provides subsidies not only to home grown, but also to imported biofuels that are blended, and the biofuel blend can then be re-exported. Under such ’splash and dash’ trade, operators import biofuels from abroad, add minute amounts of mineral oil, and then re-export. When the B99 arrives in Europe, it again benefits from a tax brake on environmental grounds. In response to the current complaint by the EBB, the US National Biodiesel Board (NBB) has questioned the motivation behind the EBB actions. According to the NBB, the EU biodiesel industry’s problems lie elsewhere, namely in more expensive feedstock than their US competitors have access to, and also in changes in EU government policies on biofuels. The NBB called the move behind the litigation a ‘protectionist tool to shield them [EU producers] from US competition’. A spokesperson for the EU Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson said the EU would look at the issue ‘very carefully’. ICTSD Reporting: ‘Transatlantic trade dispute looms over biodiesel’, 25th April 2008, REUTERS; ‘EBB lodges joint anti-dumping & anti-subsidy complaint against unfair US "B99" exports’, 25th April 2008, EUROPEAN BIODIESEL BOARD PRESS RELEASE; ‘National Biodiesel Board (NBB) Statement Regarding European Biodiesel Board (EBB) Trade Complaint’, 25th April 2008, NATIONAL BIODIESEL BOARD.