Evaluation: effects of the On-Road Policy Rule on exports to West Africa

In 2018, the Human Environment and Transport Inspectorate (ILT) discovered that on-road fuels with high levels of harmful substances were being exported from the Netherlands to West Africa. In response, the ILT published a policy rule in 2022 in which it set limit values for harmful substances such as sulphur, benzene and manganese. An evaluation shows that there have been clear improvements since the policy rule was introduced. In particular, the concentrations of sulphur and benzene in on-road fuels have fallen significantly.