Import rules to be relaxed

The legislature’s Economics and Energy Committee passed a measure that will make importing petroleum products into Taiwan easier, which could potentially weaken CPC Corp. and Formosa Petrochemical Corp.’s market dominance. Under the proposed measure, the minimum stockpile of a fuel importer will be lowered to 10,000 from 50,000 kiloliters, Yeh Huey-ching, director-general of the Bureau of Energy, said. “The entry barrier is being lowered,” Yeh said. “It’s aimed at increasing competition in the market.” The change is pending approval of the whole legislature. State-run CPC has a 75% share of Taiwans fuel market, while Formosa Petrochemical has the rest. (April 10, 2007)