The competent administrative department of the State Council for environmental protection, in conjunction with the competent department of the State Council for foreign trade, the State Council's comprehensive macroeconomic control departments, the General Administration of Customs, the State Council Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine Department to develop, adjust and publish a directory of prohibited imports, import restrictions and automatic licensing of imported solid wastes.
Prohibit the import of solid wastes included in the catalog of prohibited imports. The import of solid wastes included in the directory of import restrictions, should be reviewed by the State Council administrative department of environmental protection in conjunction with the State Council department in charge of foreign trade license. Import of solid wastes included in the directory of automatic licensing of imports, automatic licensing procedures should be carried out in accordance with the law.
Imported solid wastes must comply with national environmental protection standards, and by the quality supervision, inspection and quarantine departments qualified.
The specific management of imported solid wastes by the State Council administrative department of environmental protection, in conjunction with the State Council department in charge of foreign trade, the State Council's comprehensive macroeconomic control department, the General Administration of Customs, the State Council quality supervision, inspection and quarantine departments to develop.
Interpretation of this article is on the management of solid waste imports.
I. Background
In recent years, China's imports of renewable resource wastes from abroad, such as iron and steel scrap, copper scrap, aluminum scrap, waste paper and so on the number of increasing. By 2002, all kinds of imported wastes have reached 21 million tons, quadrupling the 1996 figure. In order to prevent imported solid wastes from polluting the environment and to strengthen the management of waste imports, China has been formulating relevant policies since the early 1990's. In March 1991, the State Environmental Protection Administration (SEPA) and the General Administration of Customs (GAC) issued the Circular on the Strict Control of Hazardous Wastes Transferred from Overseas Countries to Our Country, which prohibits the entry of hazardous wastes and garbage, including waste pesticides, asbestos wastes, medical clinical wastes, industrial wastes, and sludges, etc., for dumping and disposal, but solid wastes that can be used as raw materials, energy or have special needs for reuse can be imported with the approval of the environmental protection department.In November 1994, the State Environmental Protection Administration (SEPA) issued the Provisional Provisions on the Strict Control of Imports of Wastes from European ****bodies, which implements categorization and management of imports of solid wastes. Generally speaking, these management policies only regulate the import of solid wastes initially, and do not fundamentally control the problem of environmental pollution caused by the import of wastes, solid wastes from outside the country, especially hazardous wastes illegally transferred to our country have occurred from time to time. For example, in September 1993, South Korea illegally exported to China a batch of hazardous wastes generated by the chemical industry under the name of "other fuel oils"; in July 1994, a Chinese import and export company imported from the United States 70 sets of waste transformers containing polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs). In the face of this illegal transfer of real pressure, in the mid-1990s, after the late 1990s, China has taken more stringent measures to manage the import of wastes. 1995 Solid Waste Pollution Prevention and Control Law, the Interim Provisions on the Management of Environmental Protection of Waste Imports and its Supplementary Provisions, and the Environmental Protection Control Standards for Imported Wastes and a series of other laws, regulations and standards were all introduced in this period, and a series of catalogs restricting imports were developed to strengthen the control of waste imports. A series of catalogs restricting imports have played a positive role in strengthening the management of solid waste imports.
According to the 1995 Law on the Prevention and Control of Environmental Pollution by Solid Wastes, there are basically two major categories of imported solid wastes: one is the solid wastes identified in the Catalog of State Restrictions on Importation of Wastes that Can Be Used as Raw Materials, which restricts the importation of wastes included in the catalog; and the other is the solid wastes outside of the catalog, which are prohibited from being imported. The first problem with this provision is that the classification is not fine enough, except for the restriction of imports all prohibited imports, while the restriction of imports and the implementation of a unified, highly centralized licensing system regardless of the circumstances, has not been able to meet the actual needs of the management of solid waste imports, impeding the import of resource wastes. Another problem is the lack of consistency with WTO rules. The WTO rules clearly implement transparent management of trade in goods, and any goods that are subject to import bans or restrictions must be publicized in advance. At present, the former Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation, the General Administration of Customs, and the State Environmental Protection Administration have published five batches of the Catalogue of Goods Prohibited from Importation and three batches of the Catalogue of Wastes Used as Raw Materials in the Restricted Importation Category, as well as a Catalogue of Wastes Used as Raw Materials in the Automatic Importation License Management Category in January 2002.In April 2004, the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPCSC) made changes to the Foreign Trade Law and established the The Standing Committee of the National People's Congress amended the Foreign Trade Law in April 2004, establishing the management system of import prohibition, import restriction and automatic import license. In order to ensure coordination between the laws and improve the solid waste import management system, this law has been amended accordingly.
Second, the classification and management of solid waste imports
The so-called solid waste imports, refers to solid wastes (including wastes) in any trade and gratuitous provision, donations and other ways into the territory of the People's Republic of China **** and the State. In accordance with the provisions of this article, China's solid waste imports to implement classification management, specifically, the implementation of two cases of three categories of management mode. Two cases refers to the use of solid wastes imported for the purpose of utilization, according to the properties of imported wastes and the degree of resourcefulness of the management of the two cases, one case can not be used as raw materials or the current level of science and technology in our country can not be utilized in an environmentally sound manner of solid wastes, all prohibited imports; the other case is that can be used as raw materials of solid wastes, allowed to be imported. The three categories refer to the above two cases on the basis of solid wastes that can be used as raw materials are further divided into import restrictions and automatic licensing of imports of two categories. Whether the import of solid wastes prohibited, restricted or automatically licensed to import, the implementation of directory management.
1. Prohibited solid wastes. Prohibition of the import of solid wastes include two main categories: one is not used as raw materials of solid wastes, that is, no recycling value of solid wastes; the other is not in a harmless way of solid wastes, that is, although it can be recycled, but due to economic and technological constraints, our country is not yet able to do the entire recycling process of solid wastes on the environment. Of course, whether it can be used as raw materials or whether it can be utilized in an environmentally sound manner is measured from the current economic and technological level of China. From a purely technical point of view, there are no solid wastes that absolutely cannot be utilized. The law prohibits the import of solid wastes that cannot be used as raw materials or cannot be utilized in an environmentally sound manner from the point of view of the current level of economic and technological development in China, but this does not preclude the possibility of utilizing the solid wastes in the future with the advancement of science and technology. This is also one of the reasons why it is necessary to implement catalog management of solid wastes that are prohibited from import. There are many types of solid wastes whose importation is prohibited, for example, sewer sludge, municipal garbage, asphalt crushed stone, waste tires and their cuttings, and used clothing are all examples. From the catalog issued by the relevant departments can also be seen, is included in the ban on imports of many solid wastes, our country on the territory of a large number of existing, and the domestic enterprises concerned on their own generation of this part of the solid waste has not yet been able to do completely in an environmentally sound way to dispose of or recycling, in this case, and then imported from foreign countries is completely unnecessary.
2. Restrictions on the import of solid wastes. Restrictions on the import of solid wastes must first belong to the waste that can be used as raw materials, the reason why we need to restrict the import of solid wastes, because the utilization of the solid wastes there are certain environmental risks, once improperly handled, may cause environmental pollution, endangering the health of the people. It is therefore necessary to control the import of this solid waste within reasonable limits through strict administrative licensing. The Foreign Trade Law also stipulates that if it is necessary to restrict or prohibit the import or export of any goods or technologies for the protection of human health or safety, the protection of animal or plant life or health, or the protection of the environment, the State may restrict or prohibit the import or export of the goods or technologies concerned. There are also many types of solid wastes that are restricted from import, such as waste scraps and offcuts of vinyl polymers, waste automobile pressed parts, waste hardware and electrical appliances based on recycled iron and steel, tungsten waste scraps and so on.
3. Solid wastes imported under automatic license. Article 15 of the Foreign Trade Law provides that the State Council administrative department in charge of foreign trade based on the need to monitor the import and export situation, can be part of the free import and export of goods imported and exported automatically licensed and published its directory. Accordingly, in addition to being wastes that can be used as raw materials, solid wastes imported under automatic authorization must also fall within the scope of goods that can be freely imported and exported. The state is only out of the need to strengthen the solid waste import management, this part of the free import of solid wastes imported under the automatic permit import management, to prevent environmental pollution. There are also many kinds of solid wastes imported under automatic license, such as waste cotton yarn, cast iron waste and scrap, copper waste and scrap, tin waste and scrap and so on.
Three, the specific management measures for solid waste imports
1. Catalog management. Different attributes of solid wastes, based on environmental protection and resource utilization, economic development and other factors, can be implemented to categorize the import management. How to determine how to manage the import of a certain solid waste needs to be specified by the state through certain measures. This measure is usually catalog management. In accordance with the provisions of paragraph 2 of this article, the ban on imports, import restrictions and automatic licensing of imports of specific directories by the State Council administrative department of environmental protection in conjunction with the State Council department in charge of foreign trade, the State Council's comprehensive macro-economic control departments, the General Administration of Customs, the State Council quality supervision, inspection and quarantine departments to develop, adjust and publish. Here the provisions of the "together" is a kind of convergence, "together with the department" and "be together with the department" between no "primary and secondary points "The specific catalogs of import prohibitions, import restrictions and automatic import authorizations must be formulated, adjusted and published with the participation of the five ****s. Therefore, the relevant departments should collaborate with each other, strengthen communication, **** with the development of a good catalog. In addition, the catalog is not fixed, with China's technological progress, social and economic development, the same kind of solid waste in different historical periods need to implement a different import management system, which should be imported to the relevant directory of timely adjustments to meet the needs of the actual work. For example, sugar cane honey, in 2002, the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation, the General Administration of Customs, the State Environmental Protection Administration issued a "catalog of prohibited imports of goods" (the fourth batch) belongs to the ban on the import of solid wastes, but in 2003, the Ministry of Commerce, the General Administration of Customs, the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine and the General Administration of Environmental Protection issued a "restriction on imports of wastes can be used as raw materials directory" (the second batch), the sugar cane honey to be included in the restriction on the import of Solid waste category. It can be seen that the implementation of catalog management of imported solid wastes is a dynamic concept that cannot be understood in a static manner. When the situation changes, the catalog should be adjusted accordingly. Of course, no matter what kind of catalog, must be published, so that the parties concerned in accordance with the types of catalog provisions to perform the corresponding procedures, simplify procedures, save administrative resources. Unpublished catalogs have no legal effect. Up to now, the relevant departments of the State Council have issued five batches of catalogs of solid wastes whose import is prohibited, three batches of catalogs of solid wastes whose import is restricted and one batch of catalogs of solid wastes whose import is managed by automatic permits.
2. Management Measures for Different Categories of Imported Solid Wastes
(1) The import of solid wastes listed in the catalog of prohibited imports is prohibited. Regardless of the purpose of the importer, its technology to what level, all solid wastes included in the catalog of prohibited imports, shall not be imported. In the case of mercury-containing mine ash and residues, for example, it is included in the third batch of solid wastes banned from import, and should be strictly prohibited from entering our country. In the absence of the solid waste from the banned imports of catalog cancellation or adjusted to other catalogs, even if some enterprises have advanced technology, from which mercury can be extracted as a chemical raw material, and this technology does not cause environmental pollution, shall not be imported without authorization.
(2) the import of solid wastes included in the catalog of import restrictions, should be examined and licensed by the State Council administrative department of environmental protection in conjunction with the State Council department in charge of foreign trade. China's current restrictions on the inclusion of solid wastes in the import directory is the implementation of license management, all the solid wastes included in the restricted import directory, must obtain the permission of the relevant administrative departments can be imported.
(3) the import of solid wastes included in the directory of automatic licensing of imports, shall apply for automatic licensing procedures in accordance with the law. In accordance with the provisions of Article 15, paragraph 2 of the Foreign Trade Law, the implementation of automatic licensing of imported goods, the consignee, the consignor in the Customs clearance procedures before the application for automatic licensing, the State Council department in charge of foreign trade or its commissioned agencies shall be licensed; automatic licensing procedures, the Customs shall not be released. 2001 December the State Council issued the "Import and Export Administration of goods regulations" and In December 2001, the former Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation issued the "automatic import license management of goods" made further provisions. Import of goods belonging to the automatic import permit management, the import operator should be declared to the Customs before the State Council, the competent department in charge of foreign trade to authorize the automatic import permit issuing agency to submit an application for automatic import permit. Customs clearance procedures with the license. Import operators apply for an automatic import license should be submitted to the automatic import license application form, contract for the import of goods, the competent administrative department to approve the scope of business of the statutory documents, belonging to the commissioned agent to import the need to submit the commissioner and the importing operator signed an agency import contract, the use of imported goods or end-users of special provisions should be submitted to the use of imported goods or end-users in line with national provisions of the certificate Materials and other relevant materials to be submitted. Where the content of the correct and complete form of permit applications, the licensing agency shall, upon receipt, within the limits of management feasible and immediately approved the issuance of an automatic import license. Under special circumstances, up to 10 working days. Automatic import license to implement a "batch of a license", the same automatic import license does not have to share the cumulative use of batches of customs clearance. License is valid for six months, the need for extension or change will be re-applied. At the same time, in accordance with the State Environmental Protection Administration, the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation, the General Administration of Customs, the State General Administration of Quality Supervision issued in 2002 "on the adjustment of waste imports of environmental protection management of the relevant issues of the Notice," not included in the directory of imported solid wastes can be used as raw materials for the copper waste scrap, aluminum waste scrap, iron and steel waste scrap, waste paper and so on, the implementation of the import of automatic registration management. Customs temporarily based on the State Environmental Protection Administration and inspection and quarantine agencies, respectively, issued by the "Certificate of Approval for Imported Waste" (marked "automatic import license") and "entry goods list" acceptance. The above provisions, are imported into the automatic permit for the import of solid wastes should comply with the implementation of the catalog.
The violation of the above provisions of the unauthorized import, shall be held legally responsible in accordance with the provisions of Article 78 of this Law.
3. Inspection and quarantine measures
The state allows the import of solid wastes, in order to meet the demand for resources brought about by China's economic development, the imported solid wastes as raw materials to be utilized. In order to prevent environmental pollution caused by imported solid wastes, the fourth paragraph of this article provides that imported solid wastes must comply with national environmental protection standards, and by the quality supervision, inspection and quarantine departments qualified. Accordingly, imported wastes must be available for use as raw materials, and if the waste itself is a source of pollution and prone to secondary pollution, it is not allowed to be imported. China has formulated the Environmental Protection Control Standards for Imported Solid Wastes (GB16487-1996) in 1996, which covers 11 types of solid wastes such as waste hardware and electrical appliances, waste plastics, textile wastes and waste non-ferrous metals. All imported wastes must comply with the respective environmental protection standards. In addition, according to the Interim Provisions on Environmental Protection Management of Waste Imports, the Customs can only release the waste if it has obtained a certificate of satisfactory inspection from the import and export commodity inspection organization at the port location. Import and export commodity inspection authorities shall promptly notify and hand over to the local environmental protection administrative department and the Customs to deal with the matter in accordance with the law if they find any possible pollution of the environment in the course of inspection of imported wastes. The former State Commodity Inspection Bureau in 1996 formulated the "pre-shipment inspection of imported waste management approach" (for trial implementation), the import of waste pre-shipment inspection issues have been specified. In accordance with the measures, imported waste, pre-shipment inspection must be implemented. Waste import units and foreign trade relations signed in the import of waste contracts, imported waste must be specified to meet the requirements of China's environmental protection standards and pre-shipment inspection provisions, indicating that it is strictly prohibited to entrain domestic garbage and the Basel Convention control of hazardous wastes and other wastes, agreed that imported wastes must be designated by the State Commodity Inspection Agency or a recognized inspection agency to implement the pre-shipment inspection, the inspection can only be shipped after passing the test. Accredited inspection agency for pre-shipment inspection of imported waste with the application of trade relations, must be in accordance with China's environmental protection standards for imported waste inspection gatekeeper, to ensure that the waste shipped to China in line with the requirements of these standards. Foreign trade and transportation departments in the acceptance of imported waste transportation applications, must provide the above inspection agency issued by the pre-shipment inspection of imported waste certificate of compliance. The waste importing unit shall notify the commodity inspection agency at the port of entry of the imported waste for inspection 10 days prior to the arrival of the waste at the port of entry. Imported waste arriving at the port of entry, the consignor should be declared to the Customs and Excise Department, and then the consignee to the port of the commodity inspection agency for inspection. The port inspection agency for imported waste inspection, inspection of qualified notification issued by the inspection of the situation, the Customs with this release. Inspection of various inspection agencies and the division of labor are as follows: (a) the implementation of pre-shipment inspection of overseas inspection agencies to bear the import of waste materials, environmental projects test; of which the container loaded with waste materials, the inspection includes supervision of loading, to prevent the exchange of goods. (B) Port Commodity Inspection Bureau has been pre-shipment inspection of imported waste materials is responsible for environmental projects; for reasons not pre-shipment inspection of imported waste materials at the port for environmental projects; conditions can be accepted on the application of trade relations, quality, weight inspection. (C) the arrival of the Commodity Inspection Bureau of the contract agreed to have the quality, weight requirements of imported waste materials for quality, weight inspection (has been in the port of quality, weight inspection, except). Imported waste without passing the inspection, shall not enter our territory.
Four, the development of specific management of imported solid waste authorization
Taking into account the import of solid waste involves a number of departments, a variety of specific circumstances are more complex, in order to further the implementation of the relevant provisions of the law, paragraph 5 of this article authorizes the State Council administrative department of environmental protection, together with the State Council department in charge of foreign trade, the State Council's comprehensive macroeconomic control departments, the Customs General Administration, the State Council Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine Department of the State Council to develop specific management of imported solid wastes. 1996 State Environmental Protection Administration, the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation, the General Administration of Customs, the State Administration of Industry and Commerce, the Commodity Inspection Bureau jointly issued the "Interim Provisions on Environmental Protection Management of Waste Imports" is the import of solid wastes is the specific management of solid wastes. In the future, all relevant departments should strengthen communication, mutual collaboration, *** with the management of solid waste imports.