Shanghai Moves to Curb Over-Packaging With Fines up to 100,000 Yuan: What It Means for the Tea Packaging Market

The draft "Several Provisions of Shanghai Municipality on the Reduction of Commodity Packaging" now under review puts the regulatory focus on the point of sale: sellers who offer goods with excessive packaging could be fined as much as 100,000 yuan. Because that pressure travels back up the supply chain, manufacturers are being forced to rethink how they pack their products — welcome news for the tea packaging market. When over-packaged tea cannot be sold, or ends up costing a 100,000 yuan penalty, the seller is the one who loses out, which effectively reins in excessive tea packaging.

The Shanghai Municipal People's Congress recently deliberated the draft, which states that Shanghai encourages enterprises to package goods simply, provided that product safety and hygiene are assured, and that sellers must accept packaging returned by consumers at the time of purchase.

The draft also sets out what producers and sellers must do to cut packaging. Goods must not be packed in breach of the mandatory clauses of the national standard limiting excessive packaging. Sellers are required to agree explicitly with suppliers that packaging will comply with those mandatory clauses, to check packaging during incoming inspection and acceptance, and, where necessary, to ask the supplier for a packaging test report. If the packaging breaks the mandatory rules, or the supplier refuses to supply a test report, the seller may reject the delivery under the contract and must not sell non-compliant goods.

In addition, the draft encourages producers and sellers to state packaging recycling and packaging cost information clearly on outer packaging. Where members of the public find packaging that violates the mandatory clauses, they may ask the seller to stop selling it and report the case to the quality and technical supervision department.

In recent years, the phrase "excessive packaging" has appeared in the headlines more and more often, with tea, mooncakes, zongzi and alcoholic drinks frequently drawing critical media coverage. One of the most talked-about cases this year was the Palace Museum "zongzi scandal": a single box of zongzi "supervised and made" by the Palace Museum was priced at 1,880 yuan, causing a public outcry.

Excessive packaging of goods is, in fact, an old subject. The national standard "Requirements for Restricting Excessive Packaging of Commodities — Food and Cosmetics", effective from April 1, 2010, was already explicit: sales packaging for food and cosmetics may have no more than three layers, the packaging void ratio must not exceed 60%, and the combined cost of all packaging other than the primary pack must not exceed 20% of the product's selling price. Yet two years on, enforcement of that national standard is still questioned, and over-packaged tea and other goods carry on as before in the marketplace.

Tea companies that favor heavy packaging are usually trying to project a corporate image or attach a cultural symbol to the pack, which is understandable in itself. What I have noticed, though, is that such packaging often bears no relation to the tea being sold and drifts away from the original attributes of the product.

I have seen many strange tea packaging materials — plastic, metal, solid wood and porcelain. They are large in volume and look imposing with layer after layer, yet the tea inside is so scant that the packaging threatens to overshadow the contents. Some packs use padding that is far too thick, delivering protection well beyond what is needed, which wastes raw materials, pollutes the environment and sits awkwardly with low-carbon living. Worse still, to lift the overall price, some tea merchants tuck gifts worth several times — or even dozens of times — the value of the tea into the pack.

Appropriate tea packaging with fresh design deserves encouragement, but packaging that tips into "excess" is a different matter. Tea is bought to be drunk; as long as the leaves are genuine, why should a few ounces need a large pack to prop up appearances? That is why I applaud the "Several Provisions of Shanghai Municipality on the Reduction of Commodity Packaging". Excessive packaging wastes resources, pollutes the environment and fuels a culture of comparison and extravagance. I hope the tea company bosses who favor over-packaging will adapt quickly to green, low-carbon living, adopt a philosophy of "appropriate packaging" early, and do their part in building a conservation-minded society. Otherwise, when over-packaged tea fails to sell — or brings a 100,000 yuan fine — it is they who will bear the loss.

— Reposted from China Packaging Network (pack.cn). Original link: http://news.pack.cn/show-362046.html