Packaging Regulation Watch: Excessive Packaging Rules Mature Globally, but China Still Has Gaps to Close

Editor's note: Excessive packaging has grown into a worldwide challenge. Developed economies have already put mature laws in place that classify the practice as unlawful, and the Guangzhou Municipal People's Government recently introduced the Interim Measures of Guangzhou Municipality for the Administration of Limiting Excessive Packaging of Commodities, using local rules to rein it in. Even so, China remains far behind developed countries in this field, and eliminating excessive packaging altogether will be a long, difficult process.

A survey conducted by the Environment and Resources Protection Committee of the National People's Congress found that packaging waste makes up over 10% of urban household refuse in China and accounts for more than 30% of its volume. Annual packaging waste totals 150 million tonnes, with over 70% attributed to excessive packaging. Such over-packaging harms the environment, society and the economy.

As excessive packaging has become a global issue in recent years, many developed countries have adopted countermeasures. Using technical standards to regulate packaging is a common international approach, and these countries have built up substantial legislative and practical experience. Germany's Packaging Ordinance, for instance, treats practices such as expanding a carton's volume to mislead consumers as deceptive packaging. A package whose volume clearly exceeds 10% of the product itself, or whose cost clearly exceeds 30% of the product, is deemed commercial fraud that violates consumer rights.

Japan's New Packaging Guidelines call for minimizing container volume, limiting empty space inside a container to no more than 20% of its volume, and keeping packaging costs below 15% of a product's selling price. South Korea's Standards on Packaging Methods for Various Types of Products set explicit rules for packaging space and layers, viewing excessively packaged goods as illegal; manufacturers that fail to reduce packaging ratios and layers in line with government requirements may face fines of up to 3 million won.

Waste and pollution from excessive packaging have also attracted close attention from Chinese local governments. The Guangzhou Municipal People's Government recently issued the Interim Measures of Guangzhou Municipality for the Administration of Limiting Excessive Packaging of Commodities, seeking to curb over-packaging effectively, encourage rational consumption, conserve resources and protect the environment through a clear and enforceable government regulation.

China's legislation on limiting excessive commodity packaging still trails that of developed countries. First, there are too few laws: China has no dedicated law governing packaging activities, and the limited rules in this area appear mainly in administrative regulations, administrative rules and other normative documents. Second, the provisions lack detail: existing legislation is not sufficiently granular, legal requirements are often stated only in principle, and the standards set are hard to apply. Third, the legal hierarchy is too low: measures consist chiefly of administrative rules and industry standards. Scattered standards and principle-based laws and regulations make it difficult to regulate excessive commodity packaging effectively.

Guangzhou has taken only an early step in restricting excessive commodity packaging. Fully resolving the problem across China will require a much longer journey.

Source: China Packaging Network (pack.cn). Original link: http://news.pack.cn/show-361776.html