Provisions of Shanghai Municipality on Commodity Packaging Reduction

(Adopted at the 37th Session of the Standing Committee of the 13th Shanghai Municipal People's Congress on November 21, 2012；amended in accordance with the Decision of the Standing Committee of Shanghai Municipal People's Congress on Amending Twelve Local Rules Including the Regulations of Shanghai Municipality on Elderly Care Service and Repealing Six Local Rules Including the Provisions of Shanghai Municipality for the Protection and Development of Telecommunications adopted at the 9th Session of the Standing Committee of the 16th Shanghai Municipal People's Congress on December 28, 2023)

Article 1

With a view to limiting commodity over-packaging, cutting consumption cost, reducing packaging wastes, utilizing resources reasonably, and protecting the environment, these Provisions are formulated according to the Cleaner Production Promotion Law of the People's Republic of China, the Circular Economy Promotion Law of the People's Republic of China, the Standardization Law of the People's Republic of China, and other relevant laws and rules, and in the light of the actual circumstances of this Municipality.

Article 2

These Provisions apply to the commodity packages produced and sold in the administrative area of this Municipality, and the related supervision and administration thereof.

Article 3

Packaging reduction shall follow the principles of "enterprises' self-restraint, government's administrative guidance, trade norms and self-discipline, and public supervision".

Article 4

The market regulation department shall be responsible for the supervision and management of commodity packaging reduction.

When supervising and inspecting commodity quality, the administrative departments including market regulation and medical products administration shall incorporate commodity packaging into their inspection.

The administrative department of development & reform shall, jointly with relevant departments and according to these Provisions, formulate and improve the policies and measures to promote commodity packaging reduction.

The administrative departments of economy and informatization as well as ecology and environment shall incorporate commodity packaging into their cleaner production examination, and urge production enterprises to reasonably package their products.

The administrative department of commerce shall urge commercial enterprises to strengthen incoming goods inspection and acceptance as required by these Provisions, and shall, jointly with relevant departments, push forward commodity package recycling and reuse.

The administrative departments of greening and city appearance as well as price control shall coordinate within their respective functions and duties to do well the work of commodity packaging reduction.

Article 5

The packaging of goods should be reasonable, and on the premise of meeting normal functional requirements, its material, structure, and cost should be adapted to the characteristics, specifications, and cost of the goods inside, reducing the generation of packaging waste.

For products that the national standards to restrict excessive packaging have been formulated, this Municipality shall implement key supervision; for those that no such standards have been formulated, the municipal market regulation department shall, in conjunction with relevant administrative departments and industry associations, formulate guiding norms for product packaging.

Article 6

Producers and sellers shall not violate the compulsory provisions of the State on the standards for limiting commodity over-packaging (hereinafter referred to as the compulsory provisions).

Sellers shall not sell the commodities that violate the compulsory provisions. Sellers shall reach a clear agreement with commodity suppliers that commodity packaging must conform to the compulsory provisions, and shall check commodity packaging during the incoming goods inspection and acceptance, and may require the commodity suppliers to provide the certificates proving that the commodity packaging conforms to the compulsory provisions. If the commodity packaging violates the compulsory provisions, or the commodity supplier refuses to provide relevant certificates, the seller may refuse the commodity as stipulated in the agreement.

Article 7

This Municipality encourages enterprises to reduce commodity packaging under the condition of guaranteeing commodity safety and sanitation, and encourages enterprises to give priority to the use of recyclable, reproductive, reusable or readily degradable packaging materials.

This Municipality advocates producers and sellers to provide explicit information on package recycling and reuse as well as packaging cost on the outer packages of commodities and to recycle and reuse the packages.

When signing a supply and marketing contract, a seller and a commodity supplier may agree on recycling of commodity packages. With regard to commodity packages listed in the state compulsory recycling catalogue, the producers or the sellers they entrust for recycling shall recycle such packages.

If funds from the public finance are used to procure commodities, the commodities conforming to the guiding norms of this Municipality shall receive priority considerations where other conditions being equal, and the commodities in violation of the compulsory provisions shall not be procured.

Article 8

Trade associations shall strengthen self-discipline, urge enterprises to conform to the laws, rules, standards and norms on commodity over-packaging limitation, guide enterprises to make public commitment on packaging reduction, and promote packaging reduction.

Trade associations may formulate and implement self-discipline norms stricter than the state compulsory provisions and the municipal guiding norms; they may formulate and implement corresponding self-discipline norms for the commodities for which the State and this Municipality have not formulated the standards or guiding norms on limiting commodity over-packaging.

Trade associations may, under the guidance of relevant government departments, carry out certification of commodity simple packaging.

Article 9

The market regulation department shall adopt the mode of sampling inspections as well as special inspections to supervise and inspect commodity packaging, and the testing work shall be entrusted to qualified technical agencies. The supervision and inspection expenses shall be disbursed from the public finance at the same level, and shall not be collected from the enterprise subject to the sampling inspection.

The municipal market regulation department shall publicize the results of the supervision and inspection in a timely manner, and publicize via the media the producers and sellers with serious violations as well as the commodities involved.

When the market regulation department carry out supervision and inspection of commodity packaging, other relevant government departments shall coordinate in doing well the supervision and inspection.

Article 10

The municipal market regulation department shall publicize on its official website the standards and norms on commodity over-packaging limitation formulated by the State and this Municipality, so that it is convenient for the public to make inquires thereof.

If the public finds that the packaging of a commodity violates the compulsory provisions, they may report it to the market regulation department, which shall investigate and handle the case in a timely manner.

The media such as radio and TV stations, the press and internet websites shall conduct social supervision and publicity campaigns of commodity packaging reduction for the public good, expose and criticize commodity over-packaging, guide consumers in reasonable consumption, and shall not publicize or advertise commodities that violate the compulsory provisions.

Article 11

Where producers and business operators (including sellers) package commodities in violation of the compulsory provisions, they shall be ordered to rectify by the market regulation department. Those who refuse to make such corrections shall be imposed a fine of not less than 2,000 yuan but not more than 20,000 yuan. If the case is serious, a fine of not less than 20,000 yuan but not more than 100,000 yuan shall be imposed thereon.

Article 12

These Provisions shall be effective as of February 1, 2013.