Тенденции национальной политики в отрасли печати и упаковки в 2009 году

1. Unification of the enterprise income tax law for all forms of ownership

The "Enterprise Income Tax Law" and the "Implementing Regulations of the Enterprise Income Tax Law" came into force on 1 January 2008, and industry insiders analyse that

the new tax law will bring seven major benefits to the printing and equipment manufacturing industries: the income tax rate for domestic and foreign-invested enterprises is unified at 25%, and enterprises'

reasonable wage and salary expenditure is allowed to be deducted, the deduction ratio for advertising expenses and business promotion expenses is unified and raised, and qualifying small

low-profit enterprises are taxed at a reduced rate of 20%, high-tech enterprises are taxed at a reduced rate of 15%, environmentally friendly and resource-saving printing enterprises may enjoy tax reduction or exemption,

and technological innovation will receive a number of preferences. The promulgation and implementation of the unified enterprise income tax law will undoubtedly be a major

event in the process of building the rule of law in taxation in our country and an important system suited to the development of our socialist market economy, and will have an important impact both in achieving an equal tax burden for domestic and foreign-invested enterprises

and in guiding the flow of funds, adjusting the industrial structure and achieving balanced regional development, and will certainly actively

promote the formation of a tax law environment of equal competition among enterprises.

1. Printing enterprises can deduct VAT on equipment purchases

From 1 January 2009, all general VAT taxpayers nationwide (regardless of region or industry) are permitted to deduct the input

tax contained in newly purchased equipment; input tax not yet fully deducted is carried forward to the next period for continued deduction, and the printing industry will also benefit. In

November 2008, the executive meeting of the State Council deliberated and in principle adopted the "Interim Regulations of the People's Republic of China on Value-Added Tax", deciding to introduce through-

out the country in 2009 the VAT transformation plan. The main content of this VAT transformation reform is: from 1 January 2009, while maintaining

the current VAT rates unchanged, all general VAT taxpayers nationwide (regardless of region or industry) are permitted to de-

duct the input tax contained in their newly purchased equipment, and input tax not yet fully deducted is carried forward to the next period for continued deduction. The fixed assets eligible for deduction

cover mainly machinery, mechanical equipment, transport vehicles and other equipment, tools and instruments related to production and operation; immovable property such as houses and build-

ings cannot be included in the scope of VAT deduction. As supporting measures for the VAT transformation reform, the measures that once benefited printing enterprises, namely

the VAT exemption policy for imported equipment and the VAT rebate policy for domestically produced equipment purchased by foreign-invested enterprises, will be cancelled accordingly.

1. Lower threshold for Hong Kong and Macao investment in mainland packaging printing enterprises

From 1 January 2009, where Hong Kong and Macao establish packaging and decoration printing enterprises in the mainland, the minimum registered capital will be applied by reference to mainland enterprises.

On 29 and 30 July 2008, the Ministry of Commerce signed with the governments of the Hong Kong and Macao Special Administrative Regions respectively the "Mainland and Hong Kong on

the Establishment of a Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement" Supplementary Agreement V and "Mainland and Macao on the Establishment of a Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement"

Supplementary Agreement V; these two agreements will be formally implemented from 1 January 2009. The annexes to these two agreements provide that the mainland's commitments to Hong Kong and Macao on

printing and publishing services are as follows: with respect to Hong Kong and Macao service suppliers establishing printing

enterprises engaged in packaging and decoration printed matter in the mainland, the minimum registered capital requirement shall be applied by reference to mainland enterprises. The minimum registered capital for packaging and decoration printing enterprises invested in the mainland by Hong Kong and Macao was

previously RMB 10 million, while from 2009 they will enjoy "national treatment" and, like mainland enterprises, it will be RMB 1.5 million. This means that Hong Kong and Macao investment in

the mainland printing industry will face a further lowered threshold, which will help the mainland printing industry attract Hong Kong and Macao capital.

1. The "Labor Contract Law" brings new issues to the printing industry

It lays somewhat greater emphasis on protecting the rights and interests of workers, while also fully considering the interests of employing units. The printing industry is a labour-intensive indus-

try; its workforce composition is complex and highly mobile, and it is very difficult to bind the relationship between workers and enterprises. Now that the printing industry has entered an era of thin profits,

the "Labor Contract Law" is undoubtedly a difficult employment problem for printing enterprises.

On 1 January 2008, the "Labor Contract Law of the People's Republic of China" began to be implemented. Its main content is: employment must not be without

a written contract; contracts can no longer be signed once a year; liquidated damages cannot be set at will; the probation period is no longer a period of cheap labour; enterprises dismissing

employees can no longer do so with ease; rules and regulations are no longer decided unilaterally; and enterprises cannot evade risks through labour dispatch.

Among these, the provisions on open-ended labour contracts that all sectors follow most closely are: when specific circumstances are met, the employing unit shall sign with the work-

er an open-ended labour contract, including: where the worker has worked continuously for that employing unit for a full 10 years; where the employing unit introduces

the labour contract system for the first time, or re-signs labour contracts because of restructuring of a state-owned enterprise, and the worker has worked continuously for that employing unit for a full 10

years and is less than 10 years away from the statutory retirement age. In addition, after two fixed-term labour contracts have been signed consecutively, a further renewal shall general-

ly also be an open-ended labour contract.

1. Ten types of waste from the printing industry included in the "National Catalogue of Hazardous Wastes"

A policy supporting the "Law on the Prevention and Control of Environmental Pollution by Solid Waste", the law provides that units generating hazardous waste must, in accordance with the relevant national

regulations, dispose of hazardous waste. Industry insiders analyse that the introduction of this policy is a good thing, but that it is somewhat difficult to implement in practice. Because

the cost of treating printing waste is so high that printing enterprises in the era of thin profits "have the will but not the strength".

In June 2008, the Ministry of Environmental Protection and the National Development and Reform Commission issued the revised "National Catalogue of Hazardous Wastes", in which 49 categories of hazardous waste from dozens of industries, including printing,

were included. The hazardous wastes of the printing industry mainly comprise 7 types: photosensitive material waste, chromium-containing waste,

copper-containing waste, mercury-containing waste, lead-containing waste, waste halogenated organic solvents and waste organic solvents. These wastes mainly come from waste developing (

and fixing) solutions, film and waste photographic paper, waste etching solutions and adhesives, and from the process of manufacturing printed circuit boards. Waste liquid produced by lead-tin alloy plating,

the use of organic solvents for rubber plate printing, and waste organic solvents produced by cleaning printing tools.

1. Industrial revitalisation plans issued

To implement the national goal of 8% economic growth, since entering 2009 the industrial revitalisation plans have been issued one after another. On 14 January

, the revitalisation plans for the steel and automobile industries were adopted by the executive meeting of the State Council; on 4 February, the adjustment and revitalisation plans for the textile industry and the equipment manufacturing industry

were also adopted in principle; on 11 February, the State Council deliberated and in principle adopted the adjustment and revitalisation plan for the shipbuilding industry; on 18 February, the State Council

executive meeting deliberated and adopted the revitalisation plan for the electronic information industry; on 19 February, the revitalisation plans for the light industry and the petrochemical industry were adopted;

on 25 February, the revitalisation plans for non-ferrous metals and the logistics industry were also adopted. At this point all the industrial adjustment and revitalisation plans had been issued, and their implement-

ation period will run from 2009 to 2011.

1. NDRC announces eight major tasks for energy saving and emission reduction in 2009

Zhang Lijun, Vice Minister of Environmental Protection, said that as of the end of last year, the national COD (chemical oxygen demand) emissions had fallen compared with 2005 by

6.61%, and sulphur dioxide emissions had fallen by 8.95%. The Ministry of Environmental Protection declares that it will persist unswervingly in energy saving and emission reduction. Vigorously advancing the optimisation and upgrading of the industrial structure,

continuing to intensify the implementation of key projects, accelerating the promotion of energy-saving products, actively advancing the development of the circular economy, accelerating

the development of the energy-saving and environmental protection industry, continuing to strengthen the assessment of target responsibilities, and further strengthening the supervision and management of energy saving and emission reduction. 2009 will be a

critical year for these eight tasks; advancing energy saving and emission reduction without slackening is not only crucial for achieving the "11th Five-Year Plan" energy saving and emission reduction targets and

enhancing the sustainability of development, but is also an important measure at present for expanding domestic demand and promoting steady and relatively rapid economic development. "Energy saving

and emission reduction" work will gradually be placed on the daily agenda of the printing and packaging industry.

1. The State Administration of Taxation issues 9 new income tax policies concerning printing enterprises

The Ministry of Finance and the State Administration of Taxation successively issued 9 circulars concerning the printing industry. They are mainly the following 9: enterprise asset losses

may be deducted before tax; the preferential income tax policies for the transition period are clarified; the conditions for income tax reduction and exemption on technology transfer are clarified; some fixed assets may be accelerated

depreciated; donations for specific purposes may be deducted before tax; the preferential income tax policies for high-tech enterprises are refined; the tax issues concerning the recognition of overseas Chinese-funded enterprises as

resident enterprises are clarified; the wages of disabled employees may enjoy a 100% additional deduction; and enterprise restructuring may enjoy tax preferences.

These circulars are a refinement of the new Enterprise Income Tax Law and its implementing regulations. Of these 9 circulars, apart from the fifth, the remaining 8 all took effect from 2008

1 January, coming into force on the same day as the new Enterprise Income Tax Law and its implementing regulations.

1. Our government introduces preferential policies relating to green and environmentally friendly packaging

Our government is further increasing its support for the environmental protection industry. On 27 August 2008 the Ministry of Finance issued the "Measures for the Administration of High-Tech

Research and Development Funds for the Packaging Industry", clarifying that, in order to regulate the management of high-tech R&D funds for the packaging industry, support the packaging industry in actively developing new prod-

ucts and adopting new technologies, and promote the development of the circular economy and the green and environmentally friendly packaging industry, from that date onwards enterprises that meet the requirements will have the opportunity

to obtain support of up to RMB 5 million in R&D funds. The scope of R&D fund support includes projects that are of a level or

that safeguard personal health and safety and meet environmental protection requirements, new environmentally friendly packaging material projects, packaging reduction and energy-saving projects,

packaging waste treatment and utilisation projects, and other projects that conform to national macro policies, environmental protection and circular economy policies. The R&D fund

support methods mainly take two forms: non-repayable grants and loan interest subsidies.

1. Seven departments jointly carry out the clean-up of food packaging materials

On 4 December 2009, the Ministry of Health and 6 other departments jointly issued the "Notice on Carrying Out the Clean-up of Food Packaging Materials" (herein-

after referred to as the "Notice"), requiring all relevant government departments to broadly mobilise all industries and enterprises, in accordance with the provisions of the "Food Safety Law",

to clean up food packaging materials on the market that may be harmful to human health, and to resolutely crack down on the use of toxic and harmful substances, especially

the illegal use of waste and old materials to produce food packaging, containers and other illegal acts.

The "Notice" published the "Catalogue of Currently Effective Standards Relating to Food Packaging Materials in China", including 133 national standards and 126

industry standards. The Ministry of Health, together with the relevant departments, set up an expert group to carry out a scientific assessment of the materials submitted by industries and enterprises, and based on the assess-

ment results to draft the "List of Substances Permitted for Use in Food Packaging Materials" and the "List of Substances Prohibited for Use in Food Packaging Materials", and to publish them in

batches to the public. All relevant government departments shall further intensify routine supervision, adopt methods such as overt inspection and covert visits, and carry out targeted

supervision and inspection work.

——This article is reprinted from China Packaging Network (pack.cn), original link: http://news.pack.cn/show-362219.html