Notice from the General Administration of Press and Publication, the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Environmental Protection on Implementing Green Printing for Primary and Secondary School Textbooks

To the press and publication bureaus, education departments (education commissions), and environmental protection departments (bureaus) of all provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities directly under the Central Government; all primary and secondary school textbook publishing and printing enterprises; and all relevant quality inspection institutions:

Implementing green printing for primary and secondary school textbooks is an important measure for China to protect the physical health of adolescents and children, transform the development model of the printing industry, and advance the building of an ecological civilization and an environmentally friendly society. The Opinions of the State Council on Strengthening Key Environmental Protection Work (Guo Fa [2011] No. 35) proposed encouraging the use of environmental labels, environmental certification, and green printing products. In October 2011, the General Administration of Press and Publication and the Ministry of Environmental Protection issued the Announcement on Implementing Green Printing (No. 2 of 2011). In accordance with the work objective set out in the announcement—"basically achieving full coverage of green printing for primary and secondary school textbooks"—the relevant specific work arrangements are hereby notified as follows:

I. Guiding ideology

Thoroughly implement the Scientific Outlook on Development and the spirit of the Sixth Plenary Session of the 17th Central Committee of the Party, adhere to a people-oriented approach and governance for the people, and, through the full implementation of green printing for primary and secondary school textbooks, eliminate the toxic and harmful substances in printed products that adolescents and children and printing practitioners come into daily contact with, protect the physical health of the broad masses of adolescents and children and printing practitioners, reduce pollutant emissions in the process of publishing and printing textbooks, phase out textbook printing enterprises that fail to meet standards, accelerate the transformation of the development model of the printing industry, promote the upgrading of the printing industry, and advance the building of an ecological civilization and an environmentally friendly society.

II. Scope and objectives of the work

(1) Scope of the work

The scope of implementing green printing for primary and secondary school textbooks includes all textbooks for national courses and local courses at the compulsory education stage nationwide. Primary and secondary school textbooks must be entrusted to printing enterprises that have obtained China Environmental Labelling product certification for green printing.

(2) Work objectives

Starting from the fall semester of this year, the number of green-printed primary and secondary school textbooks used in each locality should account for 30% of the total number of primary and secondary school textbooks used locally; after another 1–2 years, full coverage of green printing for primary and secondary school textbooks nationwide should be basically achieved. By implementing green printing for primary and secondary school textbooks, attention and importance from all sectors of society to the environmental safety of primary and secondary school textbooks will be aroused, environmental awareness will be raised, the implementation of green printing in the printing industry will be promoted, and the intensive operation of the printing industry will be advanced.

III. Organizational structure

The General Administration of Press and Publication, the Ministry of Education, and the Ministry of Environmental Protection shall jointly establish a leading group for implementing green printing for primary and secondary school textbooks. Responsible officials in charge from each department shall participate, meetings shall be held from time to time, relevant work content shall be determined, progress in each locality shall be reported, forces shall be organized for supervision and inspection, and acceptance inspections shall be conducted on implementation in each locality. The leading group shall have an office, which shall be located in the Printing and Distribution Management Department of the General Administration of Press and Publication and shall be specifically responsible for organizing and coordinating the implementation work.

IV. Implementation steps

(1) Mobilization and deployment stage

In May of this year, the General Administration of Press and Publication, the Ministry of Education, and the Ministry of Environmental Protection will jointly hold a launching ceremony for implementing green printing for primary and secondary school textbooks; relevant arrangements will be notified separately. Each locality shall, in accordance with the requirements of this notice, establish a corresponding leading group and office, strengthen leadership, implement responsibilities, form synergy, and, in light of local realities, mobilize and deploy the work of implementing green printing for primary and secondary school textbooks.

(2) Pilot promotion stage

Starting from the fall semester of this year, each locality may select textbooks for some courses from national courses or local courses for primary and secondary schools to pilot the implementation of green printing. The number of green-printed primary and secondary school textbooks should account for more than 30% of the total number of primary and secondary school textbooks used locally, and regions with the capacity may expand the implementation proportion. In the process of textbook printing, raw and auxiliary materials that meet green printing requirements shall be actively adopted, and quality inspection departments shall build a green printing testing system for primary and secondary school textbooks as soon as possible.

(3) Full completion stage

After another 1–2 years, full coverage of green printing for primary and secondary school textbooks will be basically achieved, and green printing will become a necessary condition for selecting textbooks for primary and secondary schools nationwide. A testing system for green printing of textbooks will be basically established. The General Administration of Press and Publication, the Ministry of Education, and the Ministry of Environmental Protection will form inspection teams to inspect and conduct acceptance reviews of the completion of green printing for primary and secondary school textbooks in each locality.

V. Division of responsibilities and requirements

(1) Publishers (type-rental units) of primary and secondary school textbooks shall conscientiously study the lithographic green printing standards and related requirements, reasonably determine the raw and auxiliary materials and the printing format for textbook printing, and must entrust the printing of primary and secondary school textbooks to printing enterprises that have obtained Green Printing Environmental Label Product Certification [see Appendix 1 for the list of printing enterprises; China Environmental United (Beijing) Certification Center Co., Ltd. will update it regularly]. If the entrusted printing enterprise is unable to complete the production task, the publishing unit (type-rental unit) shall select a new printing enterprise and issue a new printing commission letter. If a publishing unit (type-rental unit) has difficulty in selecting a printing enterprise, it may, through the provincial press and publication administration department in its locality, report to the General Administration of Press and Publication for coordinated allocation.

(2) Printing enterprises entrusted with printing primary and secondary school textbooks shall strictly control production processes and procedures, actively adopt green and environmentally friendly printing equipment and raw and auxiliary materials, and ensure that textbooks meet the quality requirements of green printing products. Primary and secondary school textbooks produced under green printing shall, in accordance with the relevant provisions of the Ministry of Environmental Protection on the administration of the use of environmental labels, bear the China Environmental Label printed on the back cover of the textbook.

(3) Press and publication administration departments shall take the initiative to coordinate with publishers (type-rental units), printing enterprises and distribution enterprises of primary and secondary school textbooks, urge the relevant units to arrange production plans in advance and carefully organize resources for implementation, and ensure that primary and secondary school textbooks are "in students' hands before class, one copy per student".

(4) Education administration departments shall guide schools in organizing personnel to explain the China Environmental Label printed on green-printed textbooks, enrich the content of quality-oriented education, and gradually cultivate environmental awareness among children and adolescents.

(5) Environmental protection administration departments shall incorporate the implementation of green printing for primary and secondary school textbooks in their localities into the assessment of environmental protection responsibilities, and establish and improve supervision and feedback mechanisms for the implementation of green printing for primary and secondary school textbooks.

(6) Publication quality inspection departments shall incorporate green printing quality inspection of primary and secondary school textbooks into their scope of supervision, conduct spot checks as a priority this year, and, starting from next year, quality inspection departments in all localities shall organize no fewer than 20 quality inspections per year targeting green printing of primary and secondary school textbooks. Products that fail inspection shall be replaced, and the responsible publishing units (type-rental units) and printing enterprises shall be held accountable.

VI. Supervision and Penalties

(1) Where a publisher (type-rental unit) of primary and secondary school textbooks fails to entrust textbook printing business to a qualified printing enterprise, or requires a printing enterprise to print textbooks using raw and auxiliary materials that do not conform to green printing standards, the press and publication administration department shall, in accordance with relevant provisions, adjust or revoke its qualification to publish (type-rent) primary and secondary school textbooks.

(2) Where a printing enterprise fails to print and produce primary and secondary school textbooks in accordance with the standards, China Environmental United (Beijing) Certification Center Co., Ltd. shall revoke its Green Printing Environmental Label Product Certification qualification, and the enterprise shall no longer undertake the task of printing primary and secondary school textbooks.

(3) Press and publication, education, and environmental protection administration departments and schools shall not collect from students any fees related to green printing under any name. Violations of the provisions shall be dealt with seriously in accordance with the law.

Press and publication, education, and environmental protection administration departments in all localities shall strengthen organizational leadership over the implementation of green printing for primary and secondary school textbooks, vigorously publicize the significance of implementing green printing for primary and secondary school textbooks and the relevant achievements, and foster a favorable public opinion atmosphere; they shall keep fully informed of the work situation, promptly communicate and resolve through consultation any problems that arise, and submit opinions and suggestions on the implementation work to the Office of the Leading Group. The General Administration of Press and Publication, the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Environmental Protection will supervise and inspect the implementation of green printing for primary and secondary school textbooks in all localities, and will also organize acceptance inspection teams to inspect the implementation in all localities, commend regions that achieve full coverage of green printing for primary and secondary school textbooks ahead of schedule, and issue nationwide notices of criticism to regions that fail to complete the work tasks on schedule and organize rectification.

April 6, 2012

— This article is reposted from China Packaging Network (pack.cn). Original link: http://news.pack.cn/show-362039.html