Pakistan to introduce energy labelling on fans from Feb

by AMER SIAL

More than a dozen Pakistani fan manufacturers will start the voluntary energy labelling on fans from February this year while the much needed labelling on light bulbs will be started within next couple of months, an official source said.

The government has decided to take steps for energy labelling and standardisation after it was pointed out that the country was being a dumping ground for the obsolete local and imported electricity products.

Chinese low-quality energy lights and solar panels are being dumped in the country. We had asked the government to introduce energy labelling otherwise dumping can’t be stopped. The government was asked to follow a step by step approach starting from a voluntary label to a mandatory process in the next few years, the source added.

The government first made an energy efficiency policy then it converted ENERCON into National Energy Efficiency Conservation Authority (NEECA) and then energy efficiency standards were worked out, the sources said, adding that JICA helped a lot in the process. The NEECA is still working without a full time head and requires a more professional human resource to implement energy labelling regime in the country, he added.

According to industry estimates, Pakistan manufactures more than 8 million fans and 194 million light bulbs every year. An average locally manufactured ceiling fan consumes 85 to 150 watts. This is enormous as compared to world benchmark, the source said, adding that the standard under the new energy labelling regime has benchmarked it between 60-70 watts.

The benchmark could have even lowered further but since there was no such trend in the market for energy conservation so it was kept at a moderate level to introduce the new concept in the market, the source added.

The NEECA is awarding certificates to local manufacturers of electrical fans that would be followed for implementing efficiency standards in the other electrical appliances like light bulbs, electric motors, washing machines and ovens.

The energy labelling standard will be implemented all across the electric appliances sector within the next few years.

The implementation of labelling was prepared with the help of Japanese JICA. Initially, some of the industrial units opposed energy label regime which they termed as an increase in their cost of production.

Out of 250 fan manufacturing units in the country, only three, GFC, Super Asia and Starco, opted voluntarily to implement these standards. They were gradually joined by a group of eight other major players. They will now together launch an energy labelling campaign in fan manufacturing by the mid-February, a source said.

According to International Energy Agency, National Energy Efficiency Standards and Labelling (EESL) programs have been in existence since the 1970s, and, at present, they have been operating in more than 80 countries around the world, covering over 50 different types of appliances and equipment in the commercial, industrial and residential sectors.