Question

Mr Leon Perera: To ask the Minister for Trade and Industry whether the Government will consider requiring USB-C to be adopted as the charging standard for portable electronics, as will be the case in the European Union and India.

Oral Answer (to be attributed to Minister of State for Trade and Industry Alvin Tan)

1. To reduce electronic waste (e-waste), the European Union requires all mobile phones and other portable electronic devices sold in the EU to be equipped with a USB Type-C charging port by the end of 2024. The Indian government intends to implement a similar requirement. Most countries have not announced similar measures. We are monitoring developments in this space, including manufacturers’ response to the EU requirements. In the meantime, we have implemented other ways to manage e-waste, such as the Extended Producer Responsibility framework.