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Thanks to the Consumer Protection (Safety
Requirements) Registration Scheme, or CPS, the number of commonly used
household electrical, electronic and gas products, registered has
reached a record 15,000. |
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This is a whopping increase of 250 times
since the scheme first started 15 years ago in 1991. |
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A total of 45 such products gazetted as
Controlled Goods, must bear the SAFETY Mark before they can be sold in
the market). |
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That¡¯s not all. The number of accidents
involving Controlled Goods also fell from 11 in 1993 to zero in 2000.
Since then, we have achieved zero accident except in 2003 when there was
one case. |
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These significant achievements were
announced by Mr Png Cheong Boon, Deputy Chief Executive of SPRING
Singapore, at the Consumer Product Safety Seminar on 20 October 2006. |
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Mr Png added that more than 400 Registered
Suppliers now participate in the scheme, up from nine in 1991. ¡°The CPS
has helped to foster a pro-business environment and provides consumers
with more choices at better prices,¡± he said. |
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Managed by SPRING Singapore, the CPS
protects consumers from unsafe products by registering a list of
Controlled Goods, (household electrical, electronic and gas products)
that have passed stringent tests for product safety. |
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To further enhance consumer awareness on
product safety, SPRING Singapore and the Consumers Association of
Singapore (CASE) signed a Memorandum of Understanding today (20 Oct
2006). |
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This is the first MOU both parties are
signing to educate consumers on the importance of product safety. |
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Besides Controlled Goods, the MOU will
also cover Non-controlled Goods i.e. any household electrical,
electronic and gas products outside of the list. |
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For a start, SPRING Singapore and CASE
will execute a joint campaign educating consumers about eight
safety questions they should use when shopping for any household
electrical, electronic and gas products. (See Annex 2 for the
eight safety questions.) |
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¡°Consumers need to be reminded that
product safety begins with the purchase, installation and the
proper use of the products,¡± said CASE President Mr Yeo Guat Kwang. |
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¡°Reports have shown that very often
accidents were due to misuse or mishandling of these appliances.¡± |
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Currently, goods registered under the
CPS are given the SAFETY Mark, a trust mark that more consumers
are depending on when making purchase decisions. |
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Products not in the list of Controlled
Goods under CPS are not required to be registered and do not bear
the SAFETY Mark. |
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However, such products may be unsafe
to use due to poor design or incorrect usage procedures. Thus,
educating consumers to be more discerning when making such
purchases will be a key area under the SPRING Singapore-CASE
collaboration. |
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SPRING Singapore and CASE will jointly
organise consumer campaigns and seminars. Each party will have
their representatives in the other party¡¯s committee for consumer
safety related issues. |
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The committees are SPRING Singapore¡¯s
Consumer Product Safety Advisory Committee and CASE¡¯s Consumer
Products, Standards and Testing Committee. |
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SPRING Singapore has also launched an
advertising campaign that started on 8 Oct 06 to encourage the
public to look for the SAFETY Mark when buying Controlled Goods. |
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These advertisements are sponsored by
industry players, and will be published in the major dailies and
appear in outdoor media including buses, taxis and bus stop
shelters. |
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Some 200 industry players attended the
seminar today, which has the theme ¡°15 Years of Consumer Product
Safety and Beyond ¨C One Standard, One Certification and One
Product.¡± Six organisations also received the Friends of Consumer
Safety Award from Mr Yeo. |
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This seminar is part of a week-long
series of Quality and Standards 2006 seminars and conferences from
17 to 20 October 2006 to celebrate several milestones: |
- 40th
anniversary of the National Standardisation Programme
- 30 years of
national Metrology development
- 20th
anniversary of the Singapore Laboratory Accreditation Scheme (SINGLAS)
- 10th
anniversary of the Singapore Accreditation Council (SAC)
- 15th
anniversary of the Consumer Protection (Safety Requirements)
Registration Scheme
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About 1,000 participants from industry
attended the seminars and conferences held at the Marina Mandarin
during the week. More information about QS2006 is available at
www.spring-qs2006.com.
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More..... (Factsheet & Annexes) |
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Source:
www.spring.gov.sg News
Release 20 Oct 2006 |
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FrontPage Edition: Sat 21 October 2006
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