Low Yen Ling on Competition (Amendment) Bill

Product safety and accurate measurement of products are vital in protecting consumer interests but these are administered by Enterprise Singapore’s Consumer Product Safety Office and Weights and Measures Office. This means that consumer protection functions are residing across two agencies. To ensure greater synergy in the administration and enforcement of consumer protection matters under a single agency, the Competition (Amendment) Bill seeks to transfer the product safety and legal metrology functions from Enterprise Singapore to the Competition and Consumer Commission of Singapore (CCCS). Senior Minister of State for Trade and Industry Low Yen Ling, who highlighted the key features of the bill in parliament on Tuesday (Apr 8), said that such a move would reinforce the mandate of CCCS to protect consumers by enhancing its oversight of consumer protection issues. It would also better position CCCS to address issues relating to unfair trading, product safety and legal metrology holistically, thereby strengthening its ability to safeguard consumer interests, she added.