On August 1, 2025, China officially released GB 26572-2025 – ‘Requirements for Restricted Use of Hazardous Substances in Electrical and Electronic Products’. This is China’s first mandatory RoHS standard, which will take effect on August 1, 2027, fully replacing the previous GB/T 26572-2011 standard. The new standard marks a significant step in strengthening environmental compliance for electrical and electronic products in the Chinese market.

The European Commission has published Decision (EU) 2025/1760 pursuant to EU Directive 2014/53/EU (the “Radio Equipment Directive”) on whether a measure taken by France with respect to the Apple iPhone 12 A2403 was justified. This matter concerns a measure to have the mobile phone ‘iPhone 12 A2403’ manufactured by Apple Inc. (‘Apple’) withdrawn from the French market. The measure was notified to the European Commission on 5 October 2023.

On 9 September, the National Certification and Accreditation Administration released nine new implementation rules for the certification of green products, including lighting products, logistics turnover boxes, dyes, pre-mixed mortars for decoration and renovation, stone materials, refractory materials, computers, printers and all-in-one multifunction machines, and wall materials.

The U.S. Department of Energy has delayed from 7 July 2025 to 7 July 2026 the effective date of a 7 January 2025 rule that amended the energy test procedures for central air conditioners and central air conditioning heat pumps. Separately, the DOE is seeking public input by 2 December on certain aspects of its energy conservation standards for manufactured housing.

Hong Kong’s electronics industry is the territory’s largest merchandise export earner, accounting for 72.8% of the city’s total exports in 2024. A substantial portion of this business, largely re-exports, are regarded as high-tech products, especially those related to telecommunications equipment, semiconductors and computer items.

The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and the National Administration for Market Regulation jointly released an action plan on September 4 to stabilise growth in the electronic information manufacturing industry. According to the plan, the average growth rate of added value in the computer, communication and other electronic equipment manufacturing industries is targeted to be around 7% from 2025 to 2026.

The Directorate-General of the European Commission (“Commission”) for Taxation and Customs Union published a report last month on controls on products entering the EU market. The report aims to address the challenges faced due to product non-compliance during 2024 and to identify measures to further improve enforcement of EU rules. In light of this, Hong Kong traders, particularly those involved in e-commerce, should be aware of the future implications of the proposed EU customs reform.

On 26 August, the State Council released guidelines on deepening the implementation of the “Artificial Intelligence (AI) Plus” Initiative to promote the extensive and in-depth integration of AI in six key areas, namely science and technology, industrial development, consumption, people’s well-being, governance and global co-operation.

The State Administration for Market Regulation began implementing a batch of major national standards on 1 September, aimed at supporting the regulation of emerging and future industries, promoting energy conservation, emissions reduction and efficiency improvements, facilitating a good consumption environment, and protecting people’s lives and property.

The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology announced on 22 August that Requirements for Restricted Use of Hazardous Substances in Electrical and Electronic Products (GB 26572—2025) will officially take effect on 1 August 2027.