Malaysia launches fuel marker program

Datuk Mohd Shafie Apdal, Malaysia’s Minister of Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs, launched a new program to curb abusive use of subsidized diesel. Dubbed NanoTag, the program requires the use of fuel markers that would enable law enforcement officers to test whether the diesel fuel is subsidized or not. “With the availability of this technology, it radically changed our approach towards policing subsidy abuse by testing for presence of subsidized diesel at the end users’ premises,” he said. A special task force of 150 officers, called the Nano Strike Team has been organized to spot check between 7,000 to10,000 commercial premises. “Armed with some mobile kits, enforcement officers would be able to detect it in three minutes even at low volumes,” he said. (November 27, 2006)