New Rules on Excessive Packaging to Take Effect Soon; Reporter Finds Many Tea Packages Still Overpackaged

On September 1, the national standard GB 23350-2021 "Requirements for Restricting Excessive Packaging of Commodities — Food and Cosmetics" will officially take effect after a two-year transition period. The new rules set clear requirements for the packaging layers, packaging costs, void ratio and other aspects of food (including tea) and cosmetics.

At present, only less than three months remain before the new rules take effect. Jimu News reporters visited the Wuhan market and found that tea packaging comes in all kinds of styles — plain and unadorned paper boxes as well as exquisite wooden boxes, bamboo boxes, tin cans, ceramics and other styles. Among them, some tea packaging, by the new standard, constitutes over-packaging.

Many operators said that expensive tea packaging is often used for gifting; the more luxurious the packaging, the more precious people think the tea is, and the greater the premium margin.

Reporter's visit: many teas' "looks" outshine their quality

On the display shelves of a Tenfu Tea store near Xingguo South Road in Wuchang District, Wuhan, teas of various styles are displayed, mostly priced from over a hundred yuan to several thousand, even tens of thousands, yuan. After a Jimu News reporter entered the store on the pretext of wanting to buy some tea as a gift, the salesperson recommended several teas with exquisite packaging. One Enshi Yulu with a net content of 150 grams had an exquisite paper box as outer packaging and two metal cans inside, priced at 1,688 yuan. The reporter did a quick mental calculation: that box works out to more than 5,600 yuan per 500 grams; another Enshi Yulu with a net content of 500 grams had plainer packaging and was priced at only 3,000 yuan.

The salesperson admitted that both teas are Enshi Yulu and are not much different in quality, yet their unit prices per 500 grams differ by more than 2,000 yuan. "Good packaging can indeed raise the price quite a bit."

At a Huaxiangyuan Tea store on Youyi Avenue, an exquisite blue packaging box contained, apart from three small boxes of tea, an exquisite white zodiac cup and a silk scarf. The "net content" on the outside of the packaging showed that the tea contained 8.3 grams of rougui, 5 grams of white tea and 7 grams of pu'er — that is, the tea products in the item amounted to only 20.3 grams. The salesperson specifically noted: "This tea sells for about 450 yuan, and the cup alone costs several hundred yuan."

Inside the tea packaging were a zodiac cup and a silk scarf

The State Administration for Market Regulation released the national standard GB 23350-2021 "Requirements for Restricting Excessive Packaging of Commodities — Food and Cosmetics" (hereinafter the standard) in 2021. To give production and sales enterprises a buffer, a two-year transition period was granted, and the standard will officially take effect on September 1 this year. The standard clearly stipulates that the total cost of all packaging other than the packaging directly in contact with the tea shall not exceed 20% of the tea's selling price. If what this salesperson said is true, then the packaging cost of this item clearly does not conform to the national standard.

At the Hankou Tea Market, a "Yanba No. 1" priced at 3,400 yuan had a net content of 30 grams, divided into three independent small packages. According to the national standard, for goods with a net content greater than 15 milliliters (grams) and less than or equal to 30 milliliters (grams), the packaging void ratio shall not exceed 50%. The reporter measured with a tape measure and found that the outer packaging dimensions of this item were 255mm*195mm*55mm; calculated according to the conversion standard for packaging void ratio under the new standard, this item's packaging void ratio was as high as 85.74%, clearly constituting over-packaging.

Dealers say: the more upscale the packaging, the greater the premium margin

The reporter noted that in several tea markets in Wuhan, there were stores selling tea packaging.

"I have tea packaging of all grades here — thirty or fifty yuan, or one or two hundred yuan; it mainly depends on the customer's needs," said the operator of a store specializing in tea packaging, adding that expensive packaging is often used for gifting and the more luxurious the packaging, the more precious people think the tea is. Therefore, many customers buy relatively cheap loose tea in the tea market, then have it packaged here to give as gifts — "after all, those who drink it don't buy it, and those who buy it don't drink it."

Various packagings sold separately in the tea market

"Functionally speaking, tea packaging mainly serves to block light, prevent moisture and protect the tea, serving sales, transport and storage. But in practice, many people single-mindedly pursue packaging that looks good and is upscale, while ignoring the quality of the tea itself. The over-packaging of high-end gift tea is becoming more and more serious, bringing multiple negative effects." In a Qiming Rock Tea store near Dongting in Wuchang District, Wuhan, Hua Junyang, a council member of the China Tea Marketing Association and a national senior (first-class) tea evaluation technician, said this while taking out a Wuyi rock tea wrapped in a plain red paper box.

This tea was priced at 210 yuan, with the net content marked on the outer packaging as 100 grams. Weighing it by hand, the reporter could clearly feel that the tea in the paper box was packed to the brim. "Qiming Rock Tea used to focus mainly on exports; because many countries are very strict about over-packaging, the tea was mostly packed in cigarette-carton style or tin cans, and in large quantities in wooden crates," Hua Junyang admitted. Because the brand's packaging is plain, it has indeed been "disdained" by some customers, but he insists that if tea enterprises single-mindedly pursue complicated and exquisite packaging, it will increase production and operating costs, drive unreasonable increases in tea prices, make consumers bear unnecessary costs, and affect the purchasing experience and trust in the brand.

Many places are carrying out tea over-packaging governance

According to reports, the China Consumers Association recently organized professional investigators to search for over-packaging problems in four commodity categories on mainstream e-commerce platforms — edible agricultural products, tea, toys and infant-and-child products — and found that the proportion of tea over-packaging problems was 11.2%.

A Jimu News reporter's review found that governance actions against tea over-packaging have been carried out successively in various parts of the country.

During a special law-enforcement inspection, the Xinyang Market Supervision Office of Haicang District, Xiamen, Fujian, found that a "Lingzhi American Ginseng Dendrobium Tea" used a fairly exquisite gift-box packaging, with the entire box of tea products having a net content of only 60g and a measured void ratio of 84.03%. Law-enforcement officers issued an order to correct on the spot, ordering the party to make immediate corrections.

From May 23 to 25, the China Consumers Association went to Shiyan and Xiangyang in Hubei to carry out research on the special governance of tea over-packaging and research on consumer-rights protection work and conduct-building of grassroots consumer-council organizations.

On May 31, the Jiangsu Provincial Market Supervision Administration issued a "Policy Reminder Letter on Tea Over-Packaging", setting requirements for the packaging used in the production and operation of tea by units involved in tea production, processing, distribution and packaging design.

The Zhejiang Provincial Consumer Council proposed that packaging enterprises and tea operators should strictly abide by relevant laws and national standards, produce and use tea packaging that is material-saving, easy to recycle and economically applicable, and not use over-packaging to engage in unfair competition or harm the legitimate rights and interests of consumers. Consumers at large should consciously resist and monitor tea over-packaging, choose simple and green packaging products, and practice the concept and lifestyle of green, low-carbon living. At the same time, the Zhejiang Provincial Consumer Council suggested that relevant departments strengthen the governance of tea over-packaging, intensify regulatory enforcement, improve the standard system, resolutely curb the chaos of over-packaging, and let tea return to its natural, authentic self.

Tea over-packaging easily causes waste of resources and environmental pollution, and runs counter to the concept of green, low-carbon development. Many tea gift boxes are difficult to reuse and generally end up being discarded as household waste.

The WeChat public account "China Tea Marketing Association" posted an article saying that the association will give full play to its industry-service function, organize and carry out related work such as standard publicity and training for the whole industry, and guide the green and sustainable development of tea packaging.

——This article is reprinted from China Packaging Network (pack.cn), original link: http://news.pack.cn/show-379347.html