The European Union’s countervailing duties against U.S. biodiesel were set to expire on Sept. 16. The European Commission, however, decided on Sept. 14 to review the expiry of the measures, which means the existing duties will remain in place for up to 15 months, according to a report filed with the USDA Foreign Agricultural Service’s Global Agricultural Information Network on Sept. 16.

The report explains that the European Commission launched an anti-subsidy and antidumping investigation on U.S. biodiesel in 2008 following a compliant filed by the European Biodiesel Board.

As a result of the investigation, the EU has placed countervailing duties of up to EUR 409.2 ($484) per metric tons on U.S. biodiesel due to the U.S. blenders tax credit. Those duties were put into place in 2009 and renewed in 2011 and September 2015.

The duties were scheduled to expire on Sept. 16. The European Commission, however, on Sept. 14 launched an investigation to extend the anti-dumping measures against U.S. biodiesel following a request by the EBB to extend the duties for an additional five years. The report cites the European Commission as stating there is “sufficient evidence that, should measures be allowed to lapse, the current import level of the product under review from the country concerned to the Union is likely to increase due to the existence of unused capacity in the country concerned and the attractiveness of the Union market in terms of volume of consumption.”

The commission has 12 to 15 months to finalize the investigation. Existing duties will remain in place during that time. Interested parties are able to submit comments on the investigation. Additional information is available in the USDA FAS GAIN report.