Packaging Reduction Legislation Nears Deliberation: Beijing and Shanghai Deputies Focus on Enforcement

A deputies' symposium convened yesterday by the Standing Committee of the Beijing Municipal People's Congress put the spotlight on commodity packaging reduction legislation now heading toward deliberation, with people's congress deputies drawn from the business community and from residential communities offering opinions and suggestions on the proposed rules. Hu Yanzhao, deputy director of the Standing Committee, attended. At a symposium held the same day by the Standing Committee of the Shanghai Municipal People's Congress, deputies reported that simply packaged zongzi sold in greater volume during the Dragon Boat Festival holiday just past. The Several Provisions of Shanghai Municipality on the Reduction of Commodity Packaging (Draft for Public Comment) is due before the Shanghai Municipal People's Congress Standing Committee for deliberation in July.

The subject on the table was precisely the commodity packaging reduction legislation soon to be submitted for deliberation, with deputies from industry and from residential communities exchanging views on the draft text and putting forward proposals.

Deputies warned that over-packaging keeps spreading — even rice and vegetables have been caught up in it — and that the sight of goods being produced, discarded and turned into pollution all at once is shocking. In their view, it seriously wastes natural and social resources, encourages unhealthy social trends such as flaunting wealth, and creates the "soil" for corruption. Legislation by the municipal people's congress is therefore highly necessary.

Hu Yanzhao, deputy director of the Standing Committee of the Beijing Municipal People's Congress, took part in the symposium.

At the symposium also held yesterday by the Standing Committee of the Shanghai Municipal People's Congress, the feedback was that simply packaged zongzi moved faster over the Dragon Boat Festival holiday that had just ended. With the draft for public comment on the Several Provisions of Shanghai Municipality on the Reduction of Commodity Packaging set to reach the Shanghai Municipal People's Congress Standing Committee in July, deputies urged that the drafting give greater weight to implementation and operational practicalities.

Yang Dexin, a deputy to the Shanghai Municipal People's Congress and chairman of Nonggongshang Supermarket (Group) Co., Ltd., pointed to the numbers: "Judging from how the various zongzi sold this Dragon Boat Festival, the strong sellers were the freshly made, simply packaged ones, which reached peak daily sales of 5,000 to 6,000 units." Products in more luxurious packaging, by contrast, clearly lagged behind their simply wrapped counterparts.

Jiang Junfen, a deputy to the Shanghai Municipal People's Congress from Zhoujiadu Subdistrict in Pudong New Area, made a similar point: residents are not won over by over-packaged products and prefer simple packaging they can see and handle for themselves.

In the view of Wu Hesheng, a deputy to the Shanghai Municipal People's Congress and chairman of Shanghai Huaihai Commercial (Group) Co., Ltd., putting the law into practice may prove far from easy. He noted that when it comes to the very concept of "excessive packaging," merchants, consumers and government functional departments may each understand and define it differently.

Deputy Liu Xingzong, for his part, suggested a two-track approach: vigorous public communication to promote sound consumption concepts, alongside stronger supervision of the distribution stage and stepped-up enforcement.

— This article is reposted from China Packaging Network (pack.cn). Original link: http://news.pack.cn/show-362100.html