The Zambia Bureau of Standards (ZABS), together with the Energy Regulation Board (ERB) and the Zambia Environmental Management Agency, have begun sensitizing stakeholders on the implementation of Low Sulphur Gasoil (LSGO) standards in the country to match international cleaner fuel standards. ZABS Acting Director Technical Services Belinda Kancheya said the standard was revised in response to global market trends and the urgent need for cleaner fuel quality. Mrs. Kancheya was speaking during the sensitization workshop on implementing Low Sulphur diesel standards in Zambia at the Radisson Blu Hotel recently.

“The revision of the standard was necessitated by the need for us as a country to align ourselves to best practices which will result in significant reduction in vehicle emissions. Through lowering the Sulphur content in the product, harmful emissions for diesel vehicles will be reduced significantly, and cleaner vehicle technologies enabled to run efficiently, thus further reducing the adverse effects of pollution. Diesel emissions can be fatal and worldwide have been linked to increased respiratory ailments like asthma, heart and lung disease and lung cancer, Currently, in the SADC region, some of the Member States, which include Malawi, Mauritius, Seychelles, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Tanzania, Namibia, Eswatini, and Lesotho, have already adopted and implemented this standard which speaks to the urgency for us as a country to align ourselves towards providing safer and cleaner fuels.” Mrs. Kancheya said.

In the same meeting, the Southern African Development Community (SADC) Senior Programme Officer-Energy, Moses Ntlamelle underscored the importance of Member States implementing the standard and that SADC would accelerate on going collaboration with the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) so that technical assistance can be provided to Member States to fully implement low Sulphur fuel standards. He said the technical assistance will determine the readiness of Member States to develop realistic regional fuel standards in line with the SADC Regional Indicative Strategic Development Plan (RISDP) 2020-30.

Activities on the implementation of the low Sulphur diesel standard are being spearheaded by the Zambia Bureau of Standards, the Energy Regulation Board, and the Zambia Environmental Agency with the support of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)