Circular of the general office of the State Council on restricting the production and sale of plastic shopping bags

　　　Notice of the general office of the State Council on restrictions
Notice on the use of plastic shopping bags in production and sales
GBF [2007] No. 72

People's governments of all provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the central government, ministries and commissions of the State Council, and institutions directly under the State Council:
Plastic shopping bags are consumables in daily life. China consumes a large number of plastic shopping bags every year. Plastic shopping bags not only provide convenience for consumers, but also cause serious waste of energy resources and environmental pollution due to excessive use and inadequate recycling. In particular, ultra-thin plastic shopping bags are easy to be damaged and most of them are discarded at will, becoming the main source of "white pollution". At present, more and more countries and regions have restricted the production, sale and use of plastic shopping bags. In order to implement the scientificoutlookondevelopment, build a resource-saving and environment-friendly society, take effective measures from the source, urge enterprises to produce durable and recyclable plastic shopping bags, guide and encourage the masses to use plastic shopping bags reasonably, promote the comprehensive utilization of resources, protect the ecological environment, and further promote energy conservation and emission reduction, with the consent of the State Council, the production, sales, and Notice of relevant matters such as use is as follows:
1、 It is forbidden to produce, sell and use ultra-thin plastic shopping bags
From June 1, 2008, the production, sale and use of plastic shopping bags with a thickness of less than 0.025 mm (hereinafter referred to as ultra-thin plastic shopping bags) will be prohibited nationwide. The development and Reform Commission should speed up the revision of the Guiding Catalogue for industrial restructuring and include ultra-thin plastic shopping bags in the catalogue of eliminated products. The General Administration of quality supervision, inspection and quarantine should speed up the revision of the national standards for plastic shopping bags, formulate eye-catching and qualified product marks for plastic shopping bags, study and promote quick and simple detection methods for plastic shopping bags, and urge enterprises to organize production in strict accordance with national standards to ensure the quality of plastic shopping bags.
2、 Implement the paid use system of plastic shopping bags
Supermarkets, shopping malls, market fairs and other commodity retail places are the places where plastic shopping bags are most used, and most of them provide plastic shopping bags free of charge at present. In order to guide the masses to use plastic shopping bags reasonably and economically, a paid use system of plastic shopping bags has been implemented in all supermarkets, shopping malls, market fairs and other commodity retail places since June 1, 2008, and plastic shopping bags are not allowed to be provided free of charge. Commodity retail places must clearly mark the price of plastic shopping bags, and charge the price of plastic shopping bags outside the commodity price. It is not allowed to provide free of charge or hide the price of plastic shopping bags in the total price of commodities. The Ministry of Commerce shall, together with the development and Reform Commission, formulate specific management measures for the paid use of plastic shopping bags in commodity retail places, earnestly implement them, and gradually form a market environment for the paid use of plastic shopping bags.
3、 Strengthen the supervision and inspection of plastic shopping bags with limited production, sales and use
Quality inspection departments should establish a product quality supervision mechanism for plastic shopping bag manufacturers. For those who continue to produce ultra-thin plastic shopping bags in violation of regulations, or fail to affix (seal) the product mark of qualified plastic shopping bags in accordance with regulations, as well as other violations, they shall be ordered to stop production, confiscate the illegally produced products, confiscate the illegal income, and impose fines in accordance with the product quality law of the people's Republic of China and other laws and regulations. We should improve quality supervision measures, strengthen law enforcement, and strictly implement exposure, recall, rectification, punishment and other systems.
The industrial and commercial departments should strengthen the supervision and inspection of the sales and use of plastic shopping bags in supermarkets, shopping malls, market fairs and other commodity retail places, and investigate and deal with the illegal continued sales and use of ultra-thin plastic shopping bags in accordance with the product quality law of the people's Republic of China and other laws and regulations. Retail establishments should strengthen the management of the sale and use of plastic shopping bags in the market, and urge merchants to sell and use qualified plastic shopping bags. Plastic shopping bag sales enterprises should establish a purchase and sales account system to prevent unqualified plastic shopping bags from entering the market.
Passenger trains, passenger ships, passenger cars, planes, stations, airports and tourist attractions are not allowed to provide ultra-thin plastic shopping bags (packaging bags) to passengers and tourists. The competent departments of railways, transportation, civil aviation and tourism should earnestly perform their duties of supervision and inspection.
4、 Improve the recycling level of waste plastics
Environmental sanitation departments should speed up the implementation of classified collection and treatment of domestic waste, and effectively reduce the amount of waste plastics mixed into waste incineration or landfill. The competent department of waste material recycling should strengthen the management of waste plastic recycling, guide and support material recycling enterprises to establish and improve recycling outlets, make full use of price leverage and provide high-quality services to promote the recycling of waste plastics, vigorously promote large-scale sorting and hierarchical utilization, and give full play to the utility of plastic resources.
Environmental protection departments should strengthen environmental supervision over the recycling process of waste plastics, formulate environmental access conditions, pollution control standards and technical specifications, and supervise their implementation, and establish an environmental management system for the whole process of waste plastics from recycling, transportation, storage to recycling.
Science and technology departments should increase support for the research and development of waste plastic treatment and disposal technology, develop and promote technologies and products that improve the added value of waste plastic utilization, and improve the utilization level of waste plastic resources.
The financial and tax departments should study and formulate tax policies to curb waste plastic pollution as soon as possible, use tax levers to regulate the production, sale and use of plastic shopping bags, and support and encourage the development of waste plastic comprehensive utilization industry.
5、 Vigorously create a good atmosphere of limited production, sales and use of plastic shopping bags
In combination with activities such as environment day and energy conservation publicity week, make full use of various media such as radio and television, newspapers and magazines, the Internet, and adopt a popular and easy to understand way, focus on communities, villages and towns, schools, supermarkets, shopping malls, market fairs, stations, airports, tourist attractions and other places, widely publicize the harm of "white pollution" and the significance of limiting production, sales and use of plastic shopping bags, Make the masses and production and sales enterprises firmly establish the awareness of saving resources and protecting the environment, consciously and reasonably use plastic shopping bags, and produce and sell qualified plastic shopping bags according to law.
It is advocated to carry cloth bags and vegetable baskets again, reuse durable shopping bags, reduce the use of plastic bags, guide enterprises to simplify commodity packaging, actively choose green and environmental friendly packaging bags, and encourage enterprises and social forces to provide reusable shopping bags such as cloth bags for the masses free of charge, so as to jointly create a good atmosphere of moderating the use of plastic shopping bags.
6、 Strengthen the responsibilities of local people's governments and relevant departments of the State Council
Local people's governments at all levels are responsible for the work of limiting the production, sale and use of plastic shopping bags in their respective regions. They should attach great importance to it, strengthen leadership, make careful arrangements, and carefully organize all functional departments to formulate specific measures and implement them. Development and reform, commerce, quality inspection, industry and Commerce and other departments should perform their respective duties and responsibilities, work together and cooperate closely to ensure that all measures to limit production, sales and use are in place. We should strengthen administrative supervision and law enforcement supervision and inspection, earnestly implement the system of accountability for law enforcement, and strengthen the responsibilities of local people's governments at all levels and relevant departments of the State Council. For administrative inaction and ineffective law enforcement, the main principals and relevant responsible persons of relevant competent departments and law enforcement agencies shall be investigated for responsibility in accordance with the administrative licensing law of the people's Republic of China and the administrative punishment law of the people's Republic of China.
General Office of the State Council
December 31, 2007