On April 1, 2024, Singapore’s National Environment Agency (NEA) opened a public consultation on a draft amendment to the Schedule of the Hazardous Waste (Control of Export, Import and Transit) Act (a.k.a. HWA). All waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) and its components (hereinafter referred to as E-waste) are proposed to be listed in Annex II (Other Wastes) or Annex VIII (Hazardous Wastes) of the Schedule under the HWA. If adopted, from January 1, 2025, companies that import or export e-waste, or whose e-waste transits through Singapore will be required to carry out the Prior Informed Consent (PIC) procedure specified under the Basel Convention.
To make the public consultation productive and focused, the NEA requires companies involved in such activities to provide the following information:
Activities that your company performs which involve electronic wastes (e-wastes) and/or Used Electronic and Electrical Equipment (UEEE) such as recycling of e-waste, repair/refurbishment of UEEE including data sanitisation, consolidation of UEEE for fault analysis, and/or reuse of UEEE;
In the event your company is involved in any transboundary movement (i.e. import, export and/or transit) of e-waste or UEEE, please provide the following: -
Top 10 HS codes that are commonly used in the export/import/transit of your e-waste or UEEE;
Key trading countries;
Concerns relating to the PIC process (i.e. costs, administrative burden, classification of e-wastes) and/or outcome of e-waste amendment (e.g. possible reduction in volume of imported e-waste meant for recycling); and
Any clarification or suggestions to be provided by NEA that could help your company in complying to the e-waste amendment.
Feedback (via NEA_Basel@nea.gov.sg) is welcome before April 28, 2024. In addition, the NEA will also expand the scope of HS codes to be controlled by NEA for Tradenet declarations and streamline supporting documents required for Tradenet declarations, as well as disseminate guidance to the industry. Detailed description can be accessed here.
Background
At the 2022 Conference of the Parties to the Basel, Rotterdam and Stockholm Conventions, the e-waste amendment was adopted, which subjects all e-wastes to transboundary movement control from January 1, 2025 (Read more). Singapore, as a party to the Basel Convention, has the responsibility to make amendments to the Schedule of the HWA to align with the Basel Convention and its annexes. Therefore, the transboundary movement control of electronic wastes was proposed by the NEA this time.
