"Ai Group welcomes the NSW Government's review into the Gas and Electrical Act 2017. This review offers a real opportunity to reduce costs and maintain safety in the supply chain for consumer electrical products," James Thomson Ai Group's Lead for Standards and Product Regulation, said today.
"Australia's annual market for electrical and electronic goods is $25 Billion. While this represents less than 2% of the world market, Australia operates under two regulatory systems: the Electrical Equipment Safety System (EESS), embraced by most jurisdictions, and the NSW Act.
"Ai Group estimates the two frameworks impose extra costs on consumers in the millions of dollars annually. Our members report that differing requirements in the treatment of products when a standard is changed alone costs in the range of $0.55 million to $4 million. Other differences in marking requirements and dual certification add many more millions in unnecessary costs.
"Ai Group applauds the Government's preparedness to address the current gap in the harmonisation of consumer electrical safety across the country by considering aligning NSW with the well-established EESS.
"Industry and regulators have been working with the EESS as a single regulatory framework for Australia for many years.
"If the NSW Act is aligned with the EESS it would be the first time since Federation, in the electrical products sector, that industry and regulators can focus on a single set of rules," Mr Thomson said.
