"West African countries ban Europe's dirty fuel imports", 5 December 2016

Five West African countries have agreed to ban importing Europe's dirty fuels…Nigeria, Benin, Togo, Ghana, and Cote d'Ivoire agreed…to introduce strict standards to ensure cleaner, low sulfur diesel fuels and vehicles emissions standards... A report by Public Eye in September this year exposed how European trading companies were exploiting the weak regulatory standards in West African countries, allowing for the export of fuels with sulfur levels up to 300 times higher than is permitted in Europe…Alongside the introduction of the new standards, the West African group has agreed to upgrade the operations of their national refineries, both public and privately owned, to produce fuels of the same standards by 2020. UN Environment has been supporting countries in West Africa to develop policies and standards to stop the practice of importing fuel with dangerously high sulphur levels and introduce cleaner fuels and vehicles…Today, 23 countries have shifted to low sulfur fuels and another 40 are on their way...