G/TBT/N/SGP/56  
6 January 2021  
(21-0208) Page: 1/3 
Committee on Technical Barriers to Trade  Original:  English  
 
  
NOTIFICATION  
The following notification is being circulated in accordance with Article 10.6  
 
1. Notifying Member:  SINGAPORE   
If applicable, name of local government involved (Article 3.2 and 7.2):   
2. Agency responsible:  National Environment Agency (NEA)  
Name and address (including telephone and fax numbers , email and website 
addresses, if available) of agency or authority designated to handle comments 
regarding the notification shall be indicated if different from above:   
3. Notified under Article 2.9.2 [X], 2.10.1 [   ], 5.6.2 [X], 5.7.1 [   ], other :  
4. Products covered (HS or CCCN where applicable, otherwise national tariff 
heading. ICS numbers may be provided in addition, where applicable):   
i) Water -cooled chillers HS: 84 18 694X  
 
Water -cooled chillers for air -conditioning purposes (not being recycled or used goods) 
with refrigeration capacity more than or equal to 1055kW. "Water -cooled chiller" means 
a factory -made and prefabricated assembly (whether or not  it is shipped as one package) 
comprising one or more of each of the following:  
(a) a compressor;  
(b) a water -cooled condenser;  
(c) an evaporator,   
 
with interconnections and accessories, designed to produce chilled water by using a 
vapour compression refrigeration cycle to remove heat from chilled water in the 
evaporator and reject the heat to water in the condenser.  
 
ii) Air -conditioners HS: 8415 10 XX  
 
Single -phase non -ducted split type inverter and split type non -inverter room air -
conditioner (not being recycled or used goods) having a cooling capacity of 17.6 kW or 
lower. Single -phase variable refrigerant flow (VRF), casement, and window type air -
conditioners are excluded from the scope.  
 
"Single -phase non -ducted room air -conditioner" means an encased assembly or 
assemblies of one or more evaporators, compressors and condensers, designed to be 
used as a permanently -installed piece of equipment to provide conditioned air to any 
enclosed space. It includes a prime source of refrigeration for cooling and dehumidification 
and may include other means for dehumidifying, circulating and cleaning the air.  
 
Split type (inverter) air -conditioner means an as sembly of components of a refrigeration 
system fixed on 2 or more mountings to form a matched functional unit that employs 
technologies that vary the output of the compressor, by means other than start -stop 
operation.  
 G/TBT/N/SGP/56  
 
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  Split type (non -inverter) air -condit ioner means an assembly of components of a 
refrigeration system fixed on 2 or more mountings to form a matched functional unit that 
employs technologies that vary the output of the compressor by start -stop operation.  
 
Variable refrigerant flow (VRF) air -conditioner: a multi -split system is of variable 
refrigerant flow or VRF type if it has one or more outdoor units comprising a single 
refrigerant circuit, each of which has a set of refrigeration ports that services the network 
of indoor units through branc h piping or distribution devices or both.  
 
Casement or window type air -conditioner means an assembly of components of a 
refrigeration system fixed on a common mounting to form a single unit.    
 
iii) Refrigerators HS 8418 101X, 8418 21XX  
 
Single -phase re frigerators (not being recycled or used goods) with an adjusted volume of 
up to 900 litres.  
"Single -phase refrigerator" means an assembly consisting of a thermally insulated cabinet 
for the storage and preservation of foodstuffs above 0°C (32°F) and a ref rigerating unit 
operating on the vapour compression principle and arranged to extract heat from within 
the cabinet, whether or not with one or more freezer compartments.  
 
The adjusted volume of the refrigerator is defined as the sum of the adjusted volume s of 
the compartments or sections of the refrigerator, where the adjusted volume of a 
compartment or section is the product of the rated volume of that compartment or section 
with the corresponding volume correction factor (K) found in the following table:   
 
Type  K 
Fresh food  1.00 
Four-star freezer  1.79 
Three -star freezer  1.79 
Two-star freezer  1.57 
One-star freezer  1.36 
Chill 1.13 
Cellar  0.75 
 
The compartment/section types are defined in accordance with Section 3.3 of ISO 
15502:2005.  
 
5. Title, number of pages and language(s) of the notified document:  Environmental 
Protection and Management (Amendment) Bill  
6. Description of content:  This notification is to inform Members that Singapore/NEA 
proposes to enact new legislation for refrigerat ion and air -conditioning (RAC) equipment 
(as specified in item 4) that use high Global Warming Potential (GWP) refrigerants, and 
are supplied or for sale in Singapore. The criterion and specifications (e.g. capacity and 
usage) of the goods to be regulated will be stipulated in the Subsidiary Legislations.  
The regulatory requirements are:  
• the applicable RAC equipment must be registered with NEA, and  
• its refrigerant must meet the following GWP[1] levels:  
i. For water -cooled chillers, GWP of refrigerant must be less than or 
equal to 15.  
ii. For air -conditioners, GWP of refrigerants must be less than or equal 
to 750.  
iii. For refrigerators, GWP of refrigerants must be less than or equal to 
15. 
[1] The GWP values of the greenhouse gas refers to the 100 -year warming potential of 1kg of GHG, 
blend or mixture which will be aligned with the Fifth Assessment Report of the United Nation's 
(UN) Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). In addition, the GWP value of HCFC -31, G/TBT/N/SGP/56  
 
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  not found in the Fifth Assessm ent Report, will be aligned with the Scientific Assessment of Ozone 
Depletion 2018. For refrigerant blends/mixtures, the GWP of refrigerant blends/mixtures will be 
calculated as a mass -weighted average of GWP of the individual components.  
The GWP threshold s (GWP of 15 and 750 for specified equipment) were based on the 
following considerations in Singapore's context:  
i. Availability of lower GWP alternatives  
ii. Better energy efficiency performance of lower GWP alternatives  
iii. Low costs of adoption, when energy cost s avings are factored.  
7. Objective and rationale, including the nature of urgent problems where 
applicable:   
Objective : For the purposes of mitigating Singapore's greenhouse gas emissions and in 
support of global goals stipulated under the Paris Agreement.  
Rationale: HFCs are greenhouse gases with high GWP and are commonly used as 
refrigerants in household, commercial and industrial RAC applications. The imposition of 
maximum GWP levels will facilitate industry's switch to low -GWP refrigerants and reduce 
reliance on high -GWP refrigerants, thereby lowering emissions of greenhouse gases; 
Protection of the envir onment  
8. Relevant documents:   
i. Environmental Protection and Management Act (version in force from 12 
February 2020)  
 
The Environmental Protection and Management Act is available online at 
https://sso.agc.gov.sg/  
9. Proposed date of adoption:  Notice will be published on the date of adoption  
Proposed date of entry into force:  Notice  will be published prior to the date of entry 
into force  
10. Final date for comments:  60 days from notification  
11. Texts available from:  National enquiry point [X] or address, telephone and fax 
numbers and email and website addresses, if available , of other body:   
Mr Ng Pei Chen  
Principal Engineer, Labelling & Standards Department, Carbon Mitigation Division  
40 Scotts Road, #19 -00 Environment Building  
Singapore 228231  
Tel.: (65) 6731 -9113 (DID)  
Fax: (65) 6235 -2611 
Email: ng_pei_chen@nea.gov.sg  
 
Ms Ng Jie Yu Jane  
Executive Engineer, Labelling & Standards Department, Carbon Mitigation Division  
40 Scotts Road, #19 -00 Environment Building  
Singapore 228231  
Tel.: (65) 6731 -9911 (DID)  
Fax: (65) 6235 -2611 
Email: jane_ng@nea.gov.sg