NEA Audit of Registration Service Providers: What Does the Supervision Entail?

The concept of a registration service provider was introduced through an amendment to the Dutch Environmental Management Act (Wet milieubeheer) to enable smaller market participants — such as home chargers and smaller fuel suppliers — to register renewable energy in the Register for Energy for Transport (REV) through an intermediary. The registration service provider acts as an intermediary: it registers biofuels on behalf of its clients and receives emission reduction units (EREs) in the REV.

Registration is voluntary but not without obligation. The NEa emphasises that non-compliance with registration requirements may have financial consequences, including ex officio correction of registrations and enforcement measures.

The NEa's supervisory powers regarding registrants — and therefore also registration service providers — are enshrined in Title 9.7 of the Environmental Management Act (Wm). The key provisions are:

Article 9.7.4.11 Wm — Suspension or refusal of ERE crediting. The board of the emissions authority may suspend or refuse the crediting of emission reduction units if it suspects abuse or fraud, or has other reasons to believe that the registration requirements are not being met. Further rules may be laid down by or pursuant to a general administrative order (AMvB).

Article 9.7.4.13 Wm — Ex officio determination. If the NEa determines that the registration or verification requirements have not been met, it may determine the registered quantity, its characteristics or the emission reduction factor ex officio up to five years after the calendar year of registration. Where such a determination reveals that a registrant has received too many EREs, these are debited from the registrant's account.

Article 9.7.4.12 Wm — Registration verification. Registrants must annually submit a verification statement confirming that the registered renewable energy meets the statutory requirements. This verification is performed by an independent verifier, not by the NEa itself. The NEa does, however, supervise the verifiers.

Article 9.7.6.3 Wm — Supervision of certification bodies. The board of the emissions authority supervises certification bodies (CBIs) that carry out independent audits on behalf of sustainability schemes at certified companies in the biofuel chain.

Article 18.16s Wm — Exclusion from registration. If a registrant has committed three or more violations of the relevant articles, the board of the emissions authority may determine that the registrant may not register renewable energy for a specified period.

The Environmental Management Act refers in several places to a general administrative order for further rules. The Renewable Energy for Transport Decree (Besluit energie vervoer) is the primary AMvB under Title 9.7 Wm. This decree has recently been amended in connection with the implementation of the revised European Renewable Energy Directive (RED III, Directive (EU) 2023/2413).

The Renewable Energy for Transport Decree regulates, among other things, the annual obligation, the calculation of emission reduction units, the verification of supplies to end consumers and registration verification. However, as far as publicly available, the decree does not contain specific provisions on the precise scope of a NEa audit of a registration service provider.

On its website, the NEa provides the following information about its supervision of registrants under the Renewable Energy for Transport system:

Scope of inspection. The scope of an inspection depends on the size and complexity of the company and its role in the supply chain. A biofuel producer has a different scope than a registrant of renewable energy.

Forms of supervision. The NEa carries out various forms of supervision, including on-site inspection visits, sampling and data checks. During an inspection, the NEa checks whether a company complies with the legislation and regulations for Energy for Transport. The inspection focuses on, among other things, the registration of renewable energy, the obligation to report fuel deliveries or compliance with the annual and reduction obligation.

Data checks. Each year, the NEa receives from the Tax Authority an overview of discrepancies between excise duty declarations and the reported fuel deliveries in the REV. This may prompt the NEa to visit companies for a data check of the underlying information.

Chain supervision. Since 1 January 2022, the NEa also supervises the entire biofuel supply chain. During a chain supervision inspection, inspectors check the mass balance using sustainability certificates, weighing slips, invoices and contracts. A tour of the company premises is customary, and the inspector may take unannounced samples.

Periodic checks on registrations. In addition to the annual registration verification by an independent verifier, the NEa carries out periodic checks on registrations. In the case of an incorrect registration, the NEa may correct it up to five years after the relevant calendar year.

The core issue is that the specific audit scope for registration service providers has not been further defined in the publicly available legislation and regulations. On its website, the NEa does not distinguish between a regular registrant who registers on its own account and a registration service provider who operates on behalf of third parties.

This raises the following questions for market participants who use a registration service provider:

When a registration service provider states that it can be audited by the NEa, what does that mean in concrete terms? Which documents, processes and administrative requirements does the NEa assess? Is the relationship between the registration service provider and its clients also reviewed? And does the audit for a registration service provider differ from that for a regular registrant?

If you use a registration service provider, it is advisable to consider the following:

The registration service provider, as a registrant, is subject to the same statutory requirements as any other registrant. This includes the registration requirements under Articles 9.7.4.1 to 9.7.4.5 Wm, the verification obligation under Article 9.7.4.12 Wm and the mass balance requirements under Article 9.7.6.2 Wm. In addition, the registration service provider must be certified under a sustainability scheme recognised by the European Commission, hold an excise warehouse licence (AGP) and be registered with the Chamber of Commerce.

The fact that a registration service provider states that it can be audited by the NEa means that it falls under the NEa's regular supervisory regime. However, it does not provide insight into the specific aspects of the business operations that the NEa assesses during such an audit. ERE-vergelijk.nl has requested clarification from the NEa on this matter. Once we receive a response, we will update this article.