The National Environment Agency (NEA) of Singapore has notified the WTO TBT Committee of its intention to control short-chain chlorinated paraffins (SCCP) as Hazardous Substances (HS) under the Environmental Protection and Management Act (EPMA) and EPM (Hazardous Substances) Regulations. It will come into force in June 2018.
Earlier in July 2017, NEA notified to WTO of its control over polychlorinated naphthalenes (PCN) and trichlorfon(G/TBT/N/SGP/37). After further consultation with industry, Singapore has listed two following changes to the measures in the addendum of the notification:
The measures will also control SCCP as Hazardous Substances. The production, import, export, and use of SCCP and products containing SCCP in Singapore will be phased out.
The effective date for the measures to control PCN and trichlorfon will be extended to June 2018.
SCCP (C10 - C13 chloroalkanes) is a POP that used as a component in lubricants for metal working applications, and as a fire retardant/plasticiser in paints, sealant, rubber, and polymers. According to the global treaty The Stockholm Convention, it should be prohibited to produce, import, export and use SCCP. However, as table 1 shows, there are specific exemptions applied to SCCP.
table 1
For further details about Singapore's plan to control SCCP, please see here.
