SINGAPORE - Hair straighteners and standing LED lamps are among household appliances that must now be registered with Singapore's safety authority before being put on sale.
Spring Singapore also announced other changes on Monday (Jan 15) to update its classification of controlled goods, "(taking) into consideration new products and technologies".
The number of categories of products considered controlled goods has been reduced from 45 to 33, as obsolete ones such as video cassette recorders have been removed and the categories streamlined. A tiered risk classification has also been introduced.
The amendments to the Consumer Protection (Safety Requirements) Regulations, administered by Spring Singapore, are effective from Monday.
They were put in place after a month-long public consultation last August.
The authority said at the time that it would add new appliances to the list because risk assessments found them to be of a "similar risk profile to existing controlled goods".
For newly classified household electrical, electronic and gas appliances and accessories, suppliers have a one-year grace period until Jan 14, 2019 to comply with the new rules.
Controlled goods must be given the safety mark by Spring before they can be sold here.
The newly classified goods previously had to meet international, regional or national safety standards but they did not need to be registered with Spring.
Registration means suppliers need to get certification from a third-party Conformity Assessment Body and submit it to Spring.
Having a tiered framework, which classifies goods as remote, low, medium or high risk, will allow low-risk items to go on sale quicker than before, when all products had to undergo a uniform certification process.
Products classified as low risk include room air-conditioners and table and standing lamps. Among those considered high risk are gas cooking appliances and refrigerators.
Medium and high-risk controlled goods will continue to require a certificate of conformity from an assessment body.
Spring will also now accept such certificates from assessment bodies in countries that are parties to the European Union-Singapore Free Trade Agreement.
Anyone found guilty of selling unregistered controlled goods is liable to a fine not exceeding $10,000 or up to two years' jail, or both.
More details on the regulations can be found at www.spring.gov.sg/safety
