Spain prepares the regulations that will establish the USB type C port as a universal charger

The Ministry of Economic Affairs and Digital Transformation, through the Secretary of State for Telecommunications and Digital Infrastructure, has launched in a public hearing this Thursday the Royal Decree for the modification of the regulation that regulates the use of USB type C as a universal charger, whose Mandatory will enter into force on December 28, 2024.

The measure announced by Spain responds to the transposition of the European directive and will allow users to choose whether they want to buy the charger together with the new device.

This is aimed at interoperability of charging systems between devices and the reduction of electronic waste, and also that consumers have all the information related to charging when they purchase new equipment, such as the equipment’s charging capacities and compatible charging devices.

But consumers will also be able to decide if they want to accompany the new device they buy with a charger. This is due to a newly introduced article (art.3 bis) in the European directive, which additionally requires reporting on whether the charger is included in the product package.

The information on the charging system and the presence or absence of a charger must be indicated by means of a label and a pictogram, respectively, both on the packaging and in the instructions, and in the case of “distance sale”, near the indication of the price.

Regarding a possible increase in the price of chargers, the Royal Decree states that “the impact assessment carried out by the EC determines that, in global terms, consumers will save money as they will buy fewer chargers due to the possibility of reuse thereof”.

Spain complies with regulations of the European Parliament

Directive 2022/2380 of the European Parliament and of the Council of the European Union establishes that Member States must apply the mandatory nature of the USB type C port as a universal charger as of December 28, 2024.

This date affects, in addition to smartphones – including iPhone –, other categories of electronic devices, such as tablets, digital cameras, headphones, portable game consoles, wireless speakers, electronic readers (‘eReaders’), and accessories such as keyboards, mice, headphones and portable navigation devices.

Laptops, for their part, have a longer period of time to adapt to the new regulations, which have been set until April 28, 2026. Likewise, the regulation exempts laptops, smartwatches and activity bracelets from the mandatory adoption of the USB Type-C port due to their size and conditions of use.

Source: dpa

(Reference image source: Markus Winkles, Unsplash)

Visit our news channel on Google News and follow us to get accurate, interesting information and stay up to date with everything. You can also see our daily content on Twitter and Instagram