Singapore Country Commercial Guide
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Standards for Trade
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Non-Tariff Barriers to Trade 

Overview

The Singapore Standards Council is part of Enterprise Singapore (EnterpriseSG), which is the government agency championing enterprise development. It is a statutory board operating under the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI) of the Singapore government. 

EnterpriseSG participates in several international and regional fora such as the International Standards Organisation (ISO), International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC), International Laboratory Accreditation Cooperation (ILAC), International Accreditation Forum (IAF), Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), Pacific Area Standards Congress (PASC), Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation Sub-Committee on Standards & Conformance (APEC SCSC), ASEAN Consultative Committee on Standards & Quality (ACCSQ), and Asia Pacific Accreditation Cooperation (APAC). Its role on these global platforms helps strengthen the Singapore brand and reduce technical barriers for market access.

To facilitate trade with Singapore’s trading partners, EnterpriseSG has signed bilateral and multilateral Memorandums of Understanding (MOUs) and Mutual Recognition Arrangements (MRAs) with several agencies and governments around the world.

Standards and Technical Regulations

The Singapore Standards Council (SSC) facilitates the development, promotion and review of Singapore Standards (SS), Technical References, and Workshop Agreements in Singapore. This work is done through partnerships with industry, academia and government organizations under the national standardization program overseen by Enterprise Singapore. 

Singapore is a member of the ISO and a member of the IEC through the IEC National Committee of Singapore. To strengthen engagement with the industry, EnterpriseSG works closely with SSC, which comprises standards partners or experts from the private and public sectors. 
 
SSC oversees Singapore’s participation in the development or monitoring of ISO and IEC international standards that are important to Singapore. It has set up 12 Standards Committees (SCs) to lead the development and promotion of standards in various industries or technical fields such as biomedical & health, building & construction, chemical, electrical & electronics, environment & resources, food, information technology, manufacturing, quality & safety, services, trade & connectivity, and transportation. Under these SCs, various Technical Committees and Working Groups are established to undertake the development, promotion and review of standards.
  
SSC also promotes the use of international standards. SS are developed when there are no suitable international standards. Where relevant, standards developed by regional organizations such as the European Committee for Standardization, national standards bodies such as the British Standards Institution, and other standards development organizations, such as ASTM International, are also adopted as SS.

Accreditation and Assurance

The Singapore Accreditation Council (SAC) is the national accreditation body to provide independent accreditation of conformity assessment bodies for services such as testing, calibration, inspection, and certification.  The SAC builds trust in Singapore’s products and services by strengthening the nation’s technical infrastructure for conformity assessments (testing, calibration, inspection and certification). On the international front, SAC forges multilateral recognition arrangements (MLAs) and mutual recognition arrangements (MRAs) with its economic partners. These include the following:

  • Asia Pacific Accreditation Cooperation (APAC) MRA for testing & calibration (ISO/IEC 17025), medical testing (ISO 15189), inspection (ISO/IEC 17020), and proficiency testing providers (ISO/IEC 17043), as well as management systems certification (quality, environmental, food safety, energy, information security, medical devices, occupational health and safety, business continuity, anti-bribery), personnel certification and product certification. 
     
  • International Accreditation Forum (IAF) MLA for management systems certification (quality, environmental, food safety, energy, information security, medical devices, occupational health and safety), personnel certification and product certification.
     
  • International Laboratory Accreditation Cooperation (ILAC) MRA for testing & calibration, medical testing, inspection, and proficiency testing providers.

Accredited test reports or certificates from foreign Conformity Assessment Bodies (CABs) are recognized locally if they bear the ILAC and IAF MRA marks as well as the accreditation body mark of the originating country. In addition, SAC is appointed as the Good Laboratory Practice (GLP) Compliance Monitoring Authority in Singapore. In January 2010, Singapore became a Mutual Acceptance of Data (MAD) adherent member of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). This means that GLP studies conducted in Singapore for the health and safety assessment of chemicals will be accepted in more than 46 OECD and non-OECD member countries. In October 2010, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) formally recognized SAC for the ENERGY STAR Programme.

Singapore and the United States also signed an MRA on telecom equipment certification. Under the MRA, telecommunication products can be directly imported into either market without the need for additional testing and certification. Under the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Telecommunications MRA implemented between Singapore and the United States, products can be tested and certified in the United States for conformance along with Singapore’s technical requirements. Refer to Mutual Recognition Arrangements (MRA) | IMDA - Infocomm Media Development Authority for a list of recognized U.S. testing and certification agencies.

The development of Singapore’s Testing, Inspection and Certification (TIC) infrastructure is one of the key focuses of EnterpriseSG, aimed to support end-user industries within Singapore. Efforts include engaging industry stakeholders and TIC companies to build capabilities, innovate and internationalize. SAC and EnterpriseSG work closely with industry bodies such as TIC Interest Group (IG) under the Singapore Manufacturing Federation, to spearhead industry development efforts for the TIC sector in Singapore.

Publication of Technical Regulations

EnterpriseSG publishes SS by announcement in the Government Gazette (Welcome (egazette.com.sg). Technical regulations are developed by the relevant government bodies regulating a specific sector or area. For example, for certain categories of household electrical and gas appliances, they are under the Consumer Product Safety Office of EnterpriseSG; for medical devices, the Health Sciences Authority; for building and construction, the Building and Construction Authority; and for telecommunications, the Info-communications Media Development Authority. Companies from the United States are advised to approach these agencies to participate in the consultation process in the development of technical regulations. A list of these agencies can be found on gov.sg | Ministries (sgdi.gov.sg). 
 

Contact Information

Enterprise Singapore
230 Victoria Street #09-00, Bugis Junction Office Tower
Singapore 188024
Tel: (65) 6898 1800

Mr. CHEONG Tak Leong, Director, Standards (Services) Division
Mr. KHOR Aik Lam, Director, Standards (Manufacturing) Division
Email: standards@enterprisesg.gov.sg  

Mr. CHONG Hui Da, Deputy Director, Accreditation & Assurance Division
Email: sac@enterprisesg.gov.sg

Ms. Beatrice WONG, Director, Consumer Product Safety, Weights & Measures Office 
Email: consumerproductsafety@enterprisesg.gov.sg  

Mr. Dylan HENG, Deputy Director, Policy & Promotion Division
Email: ppd@enterprisesg.gov.sg  

U.S. Commercial Service, U.S. Embassy – Singapore
Mr. CHAN Y K, Commercial Specialist
Email: yiukei.chan@trade.gov

 

Use ePing to review proposed technical regulations and conformity assessment procedures. 

Use ePing to review proposed technical regulations and conformity assessment procedures. The ePing SPS&TBT platform or “ePing”, provides access to notifications made by Members of the World Trade Organization (WTO) under the Agreements on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures (SPS) and Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT), distributed by the WTO from January 16, 1995, to present. Agreements on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures (SPS) and Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT), distributed by the WTO from January 16, 1995 to present. ePing is available to all stakeholders free of charge and is a versatile tool that can be used to: 

  •  Follow and review current and past notifications concerning regulatory actions on products, packaging, labeling, food safety and animal and plant health measures in markets of interest,
  • Receive customized e-mail alerts when new notifications are distributed,
  • Find information on trade concerns discussed in the WTO SPS and TBT Committees. 

Per obligation under the TBT Agreement, each WTO Member operates an Enquiry Point. National TBT Enquiry Points are authorized to accept comments and official communications from other national TBT Enquiry Points, which are NOT part of the WTO or the WTO Secretariat.  All comment submissions from U.S. stakeholders, including businesses, trade associations, U.S domiciled standards development organizations and conformity assessment bodies, consumers, or U.S. Government agencies on notifications to the WTO TBT Committee should be sent directly to the USA WTO TBT Enquiry Point.  Refer to the comment guidance at https://www.nist.gov/notifyus/commenting for further information. This guidance is provided to assist U.S. stakeholders in the preparation and submission of comments in response to notifications of proposed foreign technical regulations and conformity assessment procedures.