On September 23, Singapore’s National Environment Agency (NEA) issued a letter to traders and declaring agents, requesting them to pay attention to the tightened regulatory requirements for the following chemicals:
Deca-brominated diphenyl ether/Decabromodiphenyl ether (decaBDE);
Pentadecafluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), its salts and PFOA-related compounds; and
Perfluorohexane sulfonic acid (PFHxS), its salts and PFHxS-related compounds
They are listed under Annex A of the Stockholm Convention and have been controlled as hazardous substances in Singapore under the Environmental Protection and Management Act (EPMA) and EPM (Hazardous Substances) Regulations (EPM(HS)Regs).
As a Party to the Stockholm Convention, Singapore will adopt the provisions of Annex A under the Stockholm Convention. For decaBDE and PFOA, its salts and PFOA-related compounds, Singapore has prohibited their manufacture, import and export, except for specific uses as allowed for under the Stockholm Convention. For PFHxS, its salts and PFHxS-related compounds, the prohibitions will take effect from June 17, 2023.
In addition, with effect from 22 Oct 2022, decaBDE and PFOA, its salts and PFOA-related compounds will be adopted into Annex III of the Rotterdam Convention. The import and export of these chemicals, for specific uses as allowed for under the Stockholm Convention, will then be subject to the Prior Informed Consent (PIC) procedure of the Rotterdam Convention.
