'Dirty' fuel law reaches impasse in EU

Technical experts asked to consider whether the European Union should label fuel from tar sands as more polluting than oil from other sources failed to reach a decision yesterday, leaving the ruling up to EU ministers in June.

The "dirty" label is said to be crucial to help buyers choose the greenest forms of energy, but Canada, whose massive crude reserves are mainly in the form of tar sands, has challenged the proposed law as discriminatory.