China’s Draft Excessive Packaging Rules Face Hearing Debate Over 55% Void Ratio, 3 Layers and 15% Cost Cap

Mooncakes, often cited as the clearest example of excessive packaging, have finally shed unnecessary bulk this year. With the Mid-Autumn Festival approaching, a product quality spot check released by the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine (AQSIQ) found that only 1% of mooncakes had excessive packaging issues. The practice of placing cigarettes, liquor, tea, cameras and even gold ingots in mooncake gift boxes has been effectively curbed.

The debate over curbing excessive packaging, sparked by over-packaged mooncakes, has gone through years of ups and downs; this year it has reached a substantive stage. This afternoon, AQSIQ held a legislative hearing on the Draft Regulations on Restricting Excessive Packaging of Commodities. More than 40 representatives from companies, industry associations and consumer groups, along with legal experts, held heated discussions on packaging void ratio, packaging layers, packaging cost and legal liability.

Packaging waste: RMB 280 billion thrown away each year

Liu Zhaobin, Director of AQSIQ's Department of Laws and Regulations, said in the drafting explanation that excessive packaging of commodities has become increasingly prominent in China in recent years. It wastes resources, worsens environmental pollution and harms consumer interests, drawing strong reactions across society. Most packaging materials that are used once and then discarded fall into the category of excessive packaging, and garbage disposal costs are also significant. One statistic shows that China discards RMB 280 billion worth of packaging waste every year.

The background provided at the hearing noted that the European Union, the United States, Japan, South Korea and China's Taiwan region all have similar laws, regulations or standards limiting excessive packaging. China still lacks dedicated legislation on the issue; only Article 20, Paragraph 2 of the Cleaner Production Promotion Law sets a principle, requiring enterprises to package products reasonably and reduce excessive packaging material use and packaging waste. The draft circular economy law also provides principles on reducing resource consumption and facilitating recycling, but does not address excessive packaging in detail.

Liu said the country urgently needs dedicated regulations with concrete provisions to move beyond the current lack of legal basis, guide manufacturers toward resource conservation, impose severe penalties for excessive packaging, regulate the packaging sector and protect consumers' legitimate rights. His remarks received unanimous agreement from representatives at the hearing.

The reporter learned that the draft under discussion contains 7 chapters and 44 articles: General Provisions; Conformity Requirements for Restricting Excessive Packaging; Obligations of Commodity Producers and Sellers; Supervision and Administration; Determination of Excessive Packaging; Legal Liability; and Supplementary Provisions.

The dispute over the 'three figures'

The draft proposes that the packaging void ratio of commodities must not exceed 55%.

Apart from primary packaging, the number of packaging layers must not exceed three.

Excluding primary packaging cost, packaging cost must not exceed 15% of the commodity's selling price.

During the afternoon hearing's sharp exchanges, these three figures were repeatedly raised by attending representatives.

Dr. Lian Mian of Tsinghua University's Academy of Arts and Design argued that the 55% void ratio ceiling and the three-layer limit were too one-size-fits-all.

Lian asked how diamond rings would be packaged in the future, and said that if a fine jade pendant were simply put in a plastic bag, probably no one would dare buy it. A Hong Kong resident, he criticized the draft as unfavorable to China's creative industry and disrespectful to the design profession. Packaging design involves art, he added; if every commodity in China were limited to three packaging layers, it would be extremely dull.

Pang Haichao, packaging procurement manager at Beijing Tongrentang Health Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd., shared the same puzzlement. Some medicines consist of only two small tablets, he said, so how should they be packaged under a 55% void ratio cap? He also cited precious wild ginseng, which weighs just 3 to 5 grams but has widely spread roots, fibers and stems; packaging it usually requires a larger void ratio, making it very difficult to stay within 55%.

As the only representative from the information industry, Zhao Jun, director of quality and standards at Lenovo (Beijing) Limited, said electronic products are known for rapid price declines. USB flash drives, for example, can vary greatly in price within a few months. Therefore, keeping packaging cost within 15% of the selling price is very difficult to achieve.

Amid the criticism, supporters of the draft also spoke. A female consumer representative said on the spot that without these three mandatory numerical indicators, the draft would lose its core content and there would be no reason for the regulation to exist. She noted that Germany's rules restricting excessive packaging include a 55% void ratio requirement, asking why China could not follow that example.

As a truly technical regulation in China, Liu acknowledged that drafting the regulations is difficult, with the crux lying in the 'degree': how to define excessive packaging for different goods and how to implement the numerical indicators require continuous improvement of relevant mandatory national standards to provide a technical basis.

Will 'supervision and administration' leak business secrets?

In addition to the controversy over the excessive-packaging figures, most enterprise representatives at the hearing expressed concerns about Part 3 of Article 26 of the draft: when quality and technical supervision departments at or above the county level supervise and inspect excessive packaging suspected of violating the regulations, they may consult and copy relevant contracts, invoices, account books, commodity packaging information files, sellers' purchase records, sales records and other materials.

Representatives from Sino-French Joint Venture Dynasty Winery Ltd. and other companies worried that enterprises are not afraid of inspections by quality inspection authorities, but the copied contracts, account books, commodity packaging information files, purchase records and sales records are trade secrets. If leaked, who would bear the losses?

It is understood that in early March this year, AQSIQ began organizing the drafting of the Draft Regulations on Restricting Excessive Packaging of Commodities. Over four months, after two research trips, four legislative seminars and multiple discussions and reviews with experts, during which the text was revised several times, the current draft took shape. In early August, it sought opinions from the National Development and Reform Commission, the Ministry of Commerce, the Ministry of Environmental Protection and the State Administration for Industry and Commerce through active communication, while also soliciting public comments online.

At present, the public has high expectations for the Regulations on Restricting Excessive Packaging of Commodities and hopes this law aimed at 'slimming down' goods will meet the public soon.

——This article is reprinted from China Packaging Network (pack.cn), original link: http://news.pack.cn/show-362186.html