Taipei, Oct. 3 (CNA) A visiting Britain official is promoting European directives, which set targets on the collection, recycling and recovery of all types of electrical goods, to Taiwanese companies and government agencies.
The directives apply to all electrical products in the European market and focus on producer responsibility, extending the "polluter pays" principle, said Steven Andrews, an official who came from U.K.'s Department of Business Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (BERR).
Andrews is promoting the WEEE (Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment) and RoHS (Restriction of Hazardous Substances) directives, both of which were adopted by the European Union in 2003 to regulate the production of electrical products, in this, his first visit to Taiwan.
Taiwan is a must-go stop because of its leading position in the electrical and information communication technology (ICT) industries, said Andrews, who had visited Japan and North America to promote the regulations.
WEEE directive asked all EEE producers who sell their products in Europe to finance the collection and treatment of WEEE. The RoHS directive also seeks to reduce the environmental impact of EEE by restricting the use of six hazardous substances during manufacture, Andrews summed up.
According to statistics provided by the Industrial Development Bureau of Taiwan's Ministry of Economic Affairs, he said, more than 90 percent of Taiwan products are in compliance with the RoHS directive.
Implementing the directives means short-term production cost increases for companies, which must re-design products to meet the requirement, he said. In the long term, he noted, prices for ICT products will invariably go down with time, and by using fewer resources, the industry will see its costs drop.
Several countries, including Japan and the United State, have described the directives as "a European way of excluding other countries' products in the EU market, " he said, adding that the U.S. also claims that it is a breach of World Trade Organization (WTO) regulations.
But Andrews stated, "It's not true, since the directives applied to all 27 EU member states as well. And the WTO has issued a clearance [of the directives]."
By launching the initiate, Europe is taking the lead to protect environment, reduce resources consumption and promote energy efficiency. And it's being recognized as the right thing to do, by the many countries copying the European initiate, he said.
Andrews is scheduled to speak at the 2007 Resource Recycling Forum, which is taking place in Taipei from Oct. 3-5.