THE United States House of Representatives has passed the Waxman-Markey Bill for the introduction of the American Clean Energy and Security Act (or Acesa) amid talk of mandatory energy-efficiency requirements for lighting.

How will this affect industries exporting products and services to the US and other regions with similar policies on energy and climate change?

Countries with the buying power can also dictate what kind of products they want in their country in relation to environmental protection.

This leads to manufacturers, mostly in developing countries, clamouring to meet the environmental protection requirements.

More than five years ago, the European Union came up with directives on Waste Electronic and Electrical Equipment (WEEE) and Restriction on Hazardous Substances (RoHS). These directives require electrical and electronic products sold in the EU to comply with minimum-content rules for six hazardous substances and the waste management system of the EU, which is founded on the Polluter Pay Principle or the Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR).

Electronic and electrical product manufacturers in Malaysia immediately sought assistance from the then available experts to help them comply with these two directives and most may have succeeded.

If you notice a wheelie bin logo on electronic or electrical appliances, it may have complied with WEEE and RoHS requirements. But who’s to verify that in Malaysia?

In the case of the US, laws may be passed which impose mandatory energy efficiency standards for household and industrial appliances.

How will industries in Malaysia cope then? Are there guidelines available to facilitate compliance with these standards? Does the US recognise Malaysian standards of energy efficiency?

Will exporters carry out testing in Malaysia and re-testing in the US? This incurs extra cost to exporters. How will exporters recall products that do not comply with mandatory requirements?

The answer to most of these questions may lie with the national standards body, that is the Department of Standards Malaysia. Standards Malaysia has developed standards in areas related to greenhouse gases, alternative energy and energy efficiency. Most of these standards are copies of international standards and thus are generally accepted for use by many countries.

Among these standards are: MS ISO 14064-1:2007, which details principles and requirements for designing, developing, managing and reporting organisations or company-level GHG inventories; MS ISO 14065-Greenhouse gases — requirements for greenhouse gas validation and verification bodies for use in accreditation or other forms of recognition; and MS 1525: 2007 — code of practice on energy efficiency and use of renewable energy for non-residential buildings and performance standards for refrigerators and fans.

We hope that these standards and similar ones will be used by government agencies such the Energy Commission, agencies under the Ministry of Domestic Trade, Cooperative and Consumerism, Ministry of Energy, Green Technology and Water and Ministry of International Trade and Industry as mandatory standards or to verify claims on energy efficiency, carbon footprint claims and greenhouse gas validation.

We believe many universities in Malaysia have access to research findings regarding the impact of climate change on Malaysia. Sharing these findings with the public and all policymakers would hasten efforts on climate-change mitigation and help Malaysia move into the green revolution and green economy.

The shift towards a green revolution and economy requires education for sustainable development, including training in new job skills and manufacturing systems.

In December this year, leaders from all UN member countries will meet in Copenhagen for negotiations over climate change, and again next year to discuss biodiversity issues.

Let’s push our leaders to ensure that Copenhagen becomes the turning point for ushering in a global green economy and revolution.

RATNA DEVI NADARAJAN, for Malaysian Association of Standards Users

Source: NST – July 6, 2009