Abu Dhabi: Members of the Federal National Council yesterday (Tuesday) passed a draft law levying tough penalties on petrol smugglers in a bid to protect consumers, the environment and its oil industry.

Under the bill, which requires final approval of the President His Highness Shaikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, petrol smugglers will face a prison term of not more than a year and a fine of up to Dh500,000.

Suhail Mohammad Al Mazroui, Minister of Energy, appealed to the House to pass the draft law and said: “Our hands were on our hearts as the image of the UAE was at stake [because of the smuggling into the country of substandard oil products] and our priority is to have a law that fights smuggling of petroleum products, especially gasoline and fuel oil, and to maintain the flow of quality products and clean environment,” Al Mazroui said.

The bill, which is meant to curb illegal activities involving petroleum products, will give companies dealing in oil products a grace period of two years from the date it takes effect to adjust their legal status.

The Cabinet may extend the grace period for a third year, according to the bill.

The draft law regulates handing, storage, transport and trade of petroleum products and unlicensed parties will face a fine of up to Dh500,000.

Repeat offenders will face a jail term of one year and a fine of up to five million dirhams.

The court may also order confiscating the oil products, transport vehicles and equipment used in the offence, without prejudice to rights of third parties, according to the law.

Al Mazroui told the House, the primary goal is to have a federal law to cover the economic, safety and distribution aspects of oil products, while targeting negative practices, such as smuggling of and trading in substandard oil products.

The minister said unlicensed distributors often caused environmental and public safety hazards while trying to hide their goods from authorities.

Offenders are ordered to remove causes of the offences at their expense, failing which, the authorities will repair any damage at the offenders’ expense and incurring them 25 per cent extra charges as administrative fees.

Individual emirates have their own laws to regulate such practices, which are often allied to issues such as the protection of water sources, environmental protection and customer care.

The UAE’s environmental law forbids dumping petroleum at sea. If the offence includes smuggling, which is covered under the new law, the court will follow the law that imposes a tougher penalty.

The Port of Fujairah expects its tank storage capacity for petroleum products to rise 75 per cent or 14 million cubic metres by 2020.