Trade and Industry Department Commerical Information Circular No.94/2008

Commercial Information Circulars

24-hour hotline : 23 922 922

Ref : EIC 111/2

30 January 2008

Dear Sirs,

Commercial Information Circular No. 94/2008

US : Energy Conservation Standards for Certain Fluorescent Lamp Ballasts and
Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007

The US Department of Energy (DoE) published a Federal Register (FR) notice on 22 January 2008 to announce the initiation of the rulemaking and data collection process to consider establishing amended energy conservation standards for certain fluorescent lamp ballasts and to consider whether energy conservation standards should apply to additional fluorescent lamp ballasts. The DoE is seeking comments concerning the issue by 7 March 2008. A copy (pdf format) of the FR notice is appended to this circular for reference. A framework document prepared by the DoE to explain the issues, analyses and processes it anticipates using for the development of amended standards for fluorescent lamp ballasts is available at
http://www.eere.energy.gov/buildings/appliance_standards/residential/fluorescent_lamp_ballasts.html

In a related development, the US President has signed into law the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 (EISA) which, among other things, requires increased energy standards for light bulbs and certain appliances (including clothes washers, dishwashers, dehumidifiers and residential boilers), energy efficiency labelling regulations for consumer electronics (including televisions, personal computers, cable and satellite set-top boxes, stand-alone digital video recorder boxes and personal computer monitors), mandatory reviews of appliance test procedures, and expedited rulemakings for energy or water conservation standards. For further information, please refer to the following documents:
The text of EISA:
http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getdoc.cgi?dbname=110_cong_bills&docid=f:h6enr.
txt.pdf
The DoE's press release:
http://www.eere.energy.gov/buildings/appliance_standards/news_detail.html/news_id=11500

ENQUIRIES

For enquiries concerning the content of this circular, please contact the undersigned at 2398 5401.

Yours faithfully,

(Amanda KWONG)
for Director-General of Trade and Industry

Electronic services for Production Notification and Certificate of Origin enable traders to make the relevant applications directly through their office computer faster and easier. Electronic service has now been extended to the lodgement of Cargo Manifests and Textiles Notifications. For details and enquiries,
please call the following service providers:

Global e-Trading Services Limited (Tel. : 8109 1820)
Tradelink Electronic Commerce Limited (Tel. : 2599 1700)

Note :

While every effort is made to ensure the accuracy of the above information, the Department cannot guarantee this to be so and will not be held liable for any reliance placed on the same.