Energy labeling has been effectively implemented in many countries all over the world in promotion of the market share for energy-saving and high-performance equipment.
From 07 January 2013, a group of home appliances to
be consumed on the market must have energy labels. To 01 January 2014,
mandatory energy labeling had been applied to refrigerators, horizontal washing
machines and televisions.
Energy labeling has been effectively implemented
in many countries all over the world in promotion of the market share for
energy-saving and high-performance equipment. In Vietnam, this operation has
been initiated since 2006 in the form of voluntary and officially applied in
the form of mandatory from 07 January 2013 under the Decision 51/2011/QD-TTg
and the Decision No. 03/2013/QD-TTg of the Prime Minister.
Uniformity and
efficiency
According to Mr. Dang Hai Dung, Deputy Director of Department of Science,
Technology and Energy Efficiency, General Department of Energy, Ministry of
Industry and Trade: "Currently, legislative documents applied in the
implementation of energy labeling, facilities, manpower, machinery, laboratory
systems have been strengthened and are being finalized.
Energy labeling program has received the active
participation of the related Ministries and Agencies, to be synchronous from
central to local in the inspection activities of manufacturing, importing and
monitoring products after certification when products are circulated on the
market (especially the participation of the General Department of Customs,
Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Science and Technology, Inspection Agencies
and market management agencies at the Department of Industry and Trade of
provinces and cities ...). The program has also
attracted the interest and active participation of the enterprises
manufacturing electronic devices."
A variety of products with energy
labels are displayed for sale in many supermarkets across the country
After over one year implementing mandatory
energy labels, the first success we can see from the program is to create the
transparency about energy efficiency of the products in the market, helping
consumers to choose better energy-saving products through the information
displayed on the energy labels.
After over one year implementing mandatory
energy labels, the first success we can see from the program is to create the
transparency about energy efficiency of the products in the market, helping
consumers to choose better energy-saving products through the information
displayed on the energy labels.
As of June 2014, Ministry of Industry and Trade
had certified energy labels for 6,215 products of 13 categories of equipment in
accordance with the Decision No. 51/2011/QD-TTg of the Prime Minister, including
473 television categories, 749 kinds of lighting devices, 1,585 kinds of
electric fans, 863 air conditioning products, 301 types of washing machines,
1,354 cookers and 210 distribution transformers.
Energy labels have contributed to the transformation
and towards to phasing out the low-efficiency equipment. It can be clearly seen
the impact of energy label program (Decision 51/2011/QD-TTg) through the change
in the market share of energy use devices such as inverter air conditioners (in
2008 the number of inverter conditioners on the market is less than 1% but by
mid-2014, the number increased to nearly 30% of the market share of household
air conditioners); or through the replacement of CFL bulbs by incandescent
lamps and the removal of the over 60W incandescent bulbs on the market or the replacement
of high-performance fluorescent lamps T8 by low performance fluorescent lamps
T10.
At the moment, energy labels are being welcomed
by consumers.
Consumers are more interested in the products with energy
labels
To further promote the use of high-efficient
vehicles, equipment, in the future the Ministry of Industry and Trade will
coordinate with the Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Science and Technology and
other agencies to implement relevant management activities of the low-efficient
devices that are going to be eliminated according to the Decision No.
78/2013/QD-TTg, dated 25 December 2013 of the Prime Minister.
Accordingly, the equipment that belongs to the
elimination list will be banned of production and circulation on the market if
the performance is lower than the minimum energy efficiency provisions in the
national standards (issued by the Ministry of Science and Technology). This
Decision comes into force from 01 January 2015.
To reduce the cost and time and to facilitate
the businesses in the registration of energy labels, The General Department of
Energy is piloting the online application of energy labeling. This formula
enhances both the management agency (Ministry of Industry and Trade) and
Enterprises to save time and cost of printing documents. Certification process
thus becomes faster and more efficient. Businesses have to submit only 01
original copy instead of hard copies as by conventional offline registration.
Businesses that
want to register energy labeling can submit their application to the sole
address at the Office of energy saving, the Ministry of Industry and Trade, 54
Hai Ba Trung, Hanoi. In addition, enterprises can use online registration.
Guide for online
registration can be found here. Energy labeling for cars applied from 01 January 2015
Following the Decision 51/2011/QD-TTg, from 01
January 2015 the group of transportation vehicles including 7-seat cars or
smaller ones are required to be energy labelled. To implement this, on 05 May
2014, Vietnam Registry Department organized a Workshop to introduce the 2nd
Draft of Circular jointly issued by the Ministry of Industry and Trade and the
Ministry of Transportation "Regulation on the inspection, certification
and energy labeling for 7-seat cars and smaller ones".
Herewith, 7-seat cars and smaller ones (except
for military vehicles, police vehicles, cars temporarily imported for
re-exported, used cars, cars not using gasoline, diesel, LPG, CNG) have to
apply for registration, inspection, certification of fuel consumption and
energy labeling before being circulated on the market.
Cars of less than 7
seats must have energy labels from 01 January 2015
In the discussion with Mr. Nguyen Dong Phong,
Deputy Director of Office of motor vehicle quality, Vietnam Registry Department,
he said that the current preparatory works for the energy labeling for 7-seat
cars and smaller ones are being positively deployed, to ensure the proper
implementation of the roadmap of energy labeling.
He also added, Vietnam Registry Department has a
modern quality control office that is established by the funding of millions of
euros from the Austrian ODA. This office will ensure the best technology and
human resources for the inspection and certification of fuel consumption,
energy labeling for the category of 7-seat cars and smaller ones.
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Consumers have more
interest and confidence when shopping
To achieve the most objective assessments, www.vneec.gov.vn has
conducted surveys at a number of electronics supermarkets in Hanoi.
To
observe a series of big electronics stores in Hanoi, we found a variety of
products with energy labels such as televisions, air conditioners, washing
machines, electric fans, rice cookers of many major brands as Sharp, Daikin,
Panasonic, Electrolux, LG, Sony ...
At
Media Mart, according to the supermarket manager, although the mandatory
provisions of energy labeling came into force from 01 July 2013, many
products with energy labels had been sold long before that time.
The
manager also shared that in the peak months of the last summer, a lot of
consumers to Media Mart asked for advice on energy saving products, mainly
including air conditioners, refrigerators and electric fans. As his
observations, the products with energy labels of 4 or 5 stars are the best-selling
products of all.
"A
lot of customers asked us about energy labeling products. They asked us to
explain more about the information on the labels, how to compare among the
same products and what products they should buy. Consumers have more trust
and reliability to choose the equipment with energy labels" said
Topcare’s salesperson.
According
to Mr. Nguyen Xuan Truong, customer service staff of Topcare supermarket
(Cau Giay District, Hanoi), consumers are now relatively keen on energy
labeling products. "Their first criterion is the compliance of the
products with their demand. The second is the information of energy
efficiency on the labels".
"Conditioners,
refrigerators, televisions are among the most popular categories of energy
labeling. Most customers choose the products that are labeled with 4 or 5
stars, “added Mr. Truong.
Ms.
Le Thi Lan Phuong - the salesperson of a store
on Xuan Thuy street (Cau Giay District, Hanoi) stated that: "In fact,
not all consumers know about energy labels. However, when they are informed
about the advantages of the labeled products in comparison with other
products, most customers choose the devices with energy labels ".
We
had an interview with Mr. Trinh Hong Anh, a government official (Ba Dinh
District, Hanoi), who was going shopping at the electronics supermarket. He
said that he was very interested in the energy labeling products. "My
habit when buying electronic equipment for families is considering its power
consumption. Since the deployment of energy labeling, I find it easier to
identify the energy-efficient products and to compare among the same categories
of products. Generally, the energy labeling products have already been
approved by the Ministry of Industry and Trade so we the consumers can fully
trust. |
By Yen Pham
