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Submission of the Consumer Council to Subcommittee on Air Pollution Control (Volatile Organic Compounds) Regulation

  • Consultation Papers
  • 2007.01.04
  1. The Consumer Council (CC) welcomes the enactment of the Air Pollution Control (Volatile Organic Compounds) Regulation. CC believes that prescribing maximum VOC content for various regulated products and prohibiting in due course the manufacture and importation of products that exceed the maximum limit are instrumental measures towards the introduction of VOC control.
     
  2. The public at large will benefit from the improved air quality in Hong Kong while achieving the VOC emission reduction target will contribute to preserving a sustainable environment for future generations in the long term.
     
  3. CC supports requiring importers or manufacturers of relevant regulated products to submit to the Environmental Protection Department (EPD) product notification/report and urges that the information at the EPD's registry be kept up-to-date for effective control.
     
  4. To ensure that the regulated products are within the prescribed limits, CC suggests that the Authority conducts surveillance checks/tests to ensure the VOC content of regulated products are as claimed.
     
  5. CC considers that requiring regulated paints with VOC content exceeding the prescribed limit to carry a label during the transitional period should enable consumers to identify the products easily. However CC is concerned that consumers who contract out painting work may not be aware of the drive in the demand for more environmentally friendly paints.
     
  6. CC therefore suggests that the government should launch an educational publicity drive targeted to raise awareness and understanding of the general public as well as the industry members, e.g. construction companies and painters, importance of such control and, in particular, the product label to be used in the transition to the new regulation. With increased awareness about the label to be carried, it is hoped that consumers and painters will be able to choose more environmentally friendly products to help alleviate the problem of air pollution.