Source: Virtual Gas, 17/05/2007

The rate of gasoline in non-compliance with ANP (National Petroleum, Natural Gas and Biofuels Agency) specifications is 7,9% in the city of São Paulo. The value is more than double the national average of 3,4%. The data are from the ANP itself.

The information is based on 1.215 gasoline samples collected by the ANP in the city of São Paulo between February and April of this year. Of this total, 97 presented irregularities in the municipality.

With regard to other fuels –diesel and alcohol–, the national average of non-compliance in April was 1,7% and 2,7%, respectively. In the State of São Paulo, the average for diesel was also 1,7%, while for alcohol the average of non-compliance was 1,1%.

To expand inspections and also reduce this percentage, especially in relation to gasoline, the city of São Paulo, the ANP and the Civil Police of the State signed an agreement this Thursday to combat adulteration of fuels in the city, in addition to tax evasion. and other irregularities at the posts.

The coordinator of the regional office of the ANP in São Paulo, Alcides Santos, believes that this index can be reduced with this operation and recalls that the percentage of non-compliant gasoline in the State has already reached 12%.

The idea of ​​the agreement is to increase the frequency of inspections at gas stations. “The ideal would be for each post to be inspected every three or four months,” said mayor Gilberto Kassab.

According to the Housing Secretary of São Paulo, Orlando Pereira, the agreement provides for the creation of a working group that will include 10 engineers from Contru (Department for Controlling the Use of Real Estate) and eight auditors from the ANP.

The police, in turn, will contribute with the investigative work to identify the fraudsters and pass on the information to the agency and to Contru for inspection of the posts.

According to the inspection superintendent of the ANP, Jefferson Paranhos, the work of the police will be investigative. “They will tell us who the big fraudsters are. The goal is to get to where fraud occurs and stop the problem at the source,” he explained.

In addition, the group intends to set up a website so that the consumer has access to the actions that were carried out, as well as the measures taken against each service station that pointed out some type of irregularity. Kassab did not know, however, to specify the date on which the site would be available to the public.

According to Kassab, there will be a new meeting next week, together with the Public Ministry. The mayor wants to include the body within this inspection group.

Pereira stated that Contru's engineers will receive practical training, probably as early as next week. “We want to take action from June onwards to inspect the XNUMX service stations in the city of São Paulo,” he said.

According to ANP data, in 2007 the agency carried out 2.098 inspection actions in the State of São Paulo. These actions generated 688 infraction notices, 252 of which related to fuel quality. In addition, there were 163 bans.

How to avoid refueling your vehicle with adulterated fuel

– Always demand an invoice to ensure knowledge of the origin of the fuel
– Check the existence of a visible ANP license plate with the Consumer Relations Center (0800 970 0267)
– Check the existence of a flag at the post
– The brand of the distributor on the truck that supplies the gas station must be the same as the one informed on the pump
– Beware of very low prices
– If you wish, ask the gas station to test the test tube, which checks the alcohol content in gasoline

(Source: Folha online)