First Local Regulation on Commodity Packaging Reduction to Take Effect

On February 1, the Several Provisions of Shanghai Municipality on the Reduction of Commodity Packaging (hereinafter referred to as the "Provisions") will take effect in Shanghai. This is the first local regulation on commodity packaging reduction in the history of China's fight against excessive packaging, and it is expected to produce a demonstration effect nationwide. That is why it has attracted close industry attention ever since Shanghai issued the draft of the Provisions in July last year. In this battle against increasingly rampant excessive packaging, Shanghai has moved to the front by putting its rules into legislation.

The introduction of the Provisions will put an end to the past situation in which curbing excessive packaging was confined to only a handful of product categories, such as mooncakes, zongzi and cosmetics. So how does the Provisions define excessive packaging? What restrictions does it place on the production and sale of excessively packaged commodities? What enforcement procedures are followed? Who pays for quality inspection? Faced with these questions, which bear on the vital interests of every consumer and packaging practitioner, a reporter from China Press and Publication News carefully studied the relevant policies and interviewed experts in the industry.

Heavy fines of up to 50,000 yuan for non-compliant companies

How is excessive packaging defined? The Provisions state at the outset that "commodity packaging shall be reasonable; on the premise of meeting normal functional requirements, its materials, structure and cost shall be commensurate with the characteristics, specifications and cost of the packaged commodity, so as to reduce the generation of packaging waste."

At the same time, while upholding and continuing the national standards already issued to restrict excessive packaging of commodities, the Provisions also provide local supplements for commodities not yet covered by such standards. "For commodities for which national standards restricting excessive packaging have already been formulated, such as mooncake and zongzi packaging, Shanghai shall exercise priority supervision; where the state has not yet formulated standards restricting excessive packaging, the Shanghai municipal quality and technical supervision department may, together with the relevant administrative departments and industry associations, formulate guiding specifications for commodity packaging."

Of particular concern to the packaging industry is that the Provisions apply to commodity packaging produced and sold within the administrative area of Shanghai as well as to its supervision and administration. Once implemented, for enterprises and products within this scope, where sellers sell commodities that violate mandatory provisions, the quality and technical supervision department shall order them to stop selling and to rectify within a time limit; if they refuse to stop selling, they shall be fined not less than 2,000 yuan but not more than 20,000 yuan; where the circumstances are serious, they shall be fined not less than 20,000 yuan but not more than 50,000 yuan.

Moreover, companies with serious violations will also be placed on a media "blacklist." The Provisions stipulate that producers and sellers whose illegal acts are serious, together with the commodities involved, shall be made public through media such as radio stations, television stations, newspapers, periodicals and websites.

Beyond penalties, the Provisions also explicitly offer tangible policy support to compliant companies. The Provisions state that when commodities are procured with fiscal funds, under equal conditions priority shall be given to commodities that conform to Shanghai's guiding specifications, and commodities that violate mandatory provisions shall not be purchased.

Funding for supervision and inspection covered by government finances

What testing procedures are adopted, and who pays the costs involved? On these issues of public concern, the Provisions give clear answers based on the principle of combining corporate self-discipline, government management and guidance, industry self-regulation and joint social oversight — and they contain quite a few highlights.

The Provisions state that the quality and technical supervision department is responsible for the supervision and administration of commodity packaging reduction, and that supervision and inspection of commodity packaging shall combine random spot checks with special inspections. Testing shall be entrusted to qualified technical institutions, and the funds for supervision and inspection shall be allocated from the fiscal budget at the same level and shall not be charged to those subject to inspection.

Industry experts say funding has long been a major obstacle hindering companies from reducing packaging and the government from carrying out supervision. By explicitly providing that the government will pay for testing, the Provisions not only dispel companies' concerns about fairness but also remove the excuse of inertia based on a lack of funds, fundamentally promoting companies' implementation of the new rules.

[Page] More eye-catching still, the Provisions not only follow the consistent approach of curbing excessive packaging at the production stage but also, for the first time, bring the sales stage into the scope of supervision, strengthening sellers' gatekeeping obligations and requiring that "sellers shall not sell commodities that violate mandatory provisions."

The Provisions stipulate that sellers shall clearly agree with commodity suppliers that commodity packaging must comply with the mandatory provisions, and shall verify the packaging of commodities during incoming inspection and acceptance; where necessary, they may require the commodity supplier to issue proof that the commodity packaging complies with the mandatory provisions. If the commodity packaging violates the mandatory provisions, or the commodity supplier refuses to provide the relevant proof, the seller may refuse to take delivery of the goods in accordance with the contract.

The public becomes an important subject of supervision

What has attracted public attention is that, in the "social supervision" section, the Provisions emphasize the public's principal role in restricting excessive packaging. The Provisions state that the Shanghai Municipal Quality and Technical Supervision Department will publish on government websites the national and municipal standards and norms for restricting excessive packaging, making it convenient for the public to look them up; where the public finds that commodity packaging violates the mandatory provisions, they may report it to the quality and technical supervision department, which shall promptly investigate and handle the matter.

Industry experts point out that, for a long time, one of the reasons excessive packaging has been widely criticized is that it is driven by consumers' consumption habits. This deep-rooted purchasing habit has prompted commodity manufacturers and sellers to repeatedly "knowingly violate" the rules on this pretext. The new Provisions break with convention by making public supervision an important part of social supervision, which will play a positive role in public participation in curbing excessive packaging.

Moreover, with regard to testing standards and social supervision, the Provisions set out the guiding role of industry associations in curbing excessive packaging. It is not hard to see from the Provisions that, on the basis of the relevant national mandatory provisions, advantage will be taken of associations' thorough understanding of their industries, and that, through a form of government cooperation with industry associations, the introduction of various norms stricter than the standards will be promoted, enterprises will be urged to implement the laws, regulations, standards and norms restricting excessive packaging, and enterprises will be guided to make public commitments on packaging reduction and the like; at the same time, certification work for simple commodity packaging will be organized and carried out, thereby advancing the work of reducing packaging materials.

— This article is reposted from China Packaging Network (pack.cn). Original link: http://news.pack.cn/show-361982.html