Minister of Environment Shieu Fuh-sheng speaks at a legislative hearing in Taipei Thursday. CNA photo March 14, 2024
Taipei, March 14 (CNA) A decision on carbon fee rates by a review committee set to meet for the first time Friday may be delayed, according to Minister of Environment Shieu Fuh-sheng (薛富盛).
At a legislative hearing Thursday, Shieu -- who announced in February that a decision on the rates would be made by the end of March -- said there were now "no guarantees" due to changes to the "wider environment."
These include the United States not passing the Clean Competition Act at the end of last year as expected and the European Union's delayed implementation of its Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM), Shieu said.
EU importers were originally meant to submit reports under CBAM by Jan. 31, 2024, but this deadline was extended by 30 days due to "technical problems," according to Climate Change Administration Deputy Director-General Huang Wei-ming (黃偉鳴).
Shieh also cited domestic factors, such as an expected raising of electricity rates in Taiwan in April.
"The country's petrochemical industry has been experiencing difficulties lately, mainly due to China's oversupply of its petrochemicals [to the world], which has driven the price down," he said.
Many Taiwanese companies in the petrochemical industry are included in the 550 big emitters emitting more than 25,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide a year that are to be charged carbon fees by the government.
When asked by the lawmakers about the rate, which depending on the recommender's background ranges from NT$300 to NT$3,000 a ton according to local media, the minister said it would be up to the review committee.
The review committee is meeting for the first time on Friday, which will not yet have the final decision, Shieu added.
The carbon fee review committee, convened by Deputy Minister of Environment Shih Wen-chen (施文真), is composed of 21 members, with eight scholars of various backgrounds -- such as economics, finance, climate change, and resource engineering -- six representatives from the environmental NGOs and industry associations, and seven representatives from the government agencies.
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