The National Party is using a new report on biofuels to again call for the scrapping of legislation that requires oil companies to introduce it.
The Government's bill has been watered down by a select committee but it still requires a minimum biofuel content starting at 0.53 percent on October 1 rising to 2.5 percent by 2012.
National's climate change spokesman, Nick Smith, said Oxfam had released a report which said biofuels caused poverty and accelerated climate change.
"Many New Zealanders will morally object to being forced to use biofuels that are contributing to starvation and causing food riots and poverty," he said.
"The fundamental flaw in the Biofuel Bill is that the compulsory requirement comes into effect on October 1 but the sustainability standards follow a year or more later."
The sustainability standards are supposed to ensure the biofuel is produced in ways that are not detrimental to the environment.
The select committee was told by the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment, Jan Wright, that the carbon footprint of many foreign-produced biofuels was worse than fossil fuels.
Dr Wright said they could also lead to deforestation, supplant food production and push up prices.