In recent years, some food and cosmetics companies have over-packaged products and passed on costs to consumers. This phenomenon of "buying money and returning pearls" not only wastes resources, but also increases the burden on consumers. It also pollutes the environment and is not conducive to the healthy development of the market economy.

To this end, the General Administration of Market Supervision recently revised and issued the mandatory national standard "Restricting excessive packaging requirements for food and cosmetics", which is committed to reducing resource consumption and packaging waste generation from the source.

The reporter of Rule of Law Daily learned that the new standard standardizes the packaging requirements of 31 kinds of food and 16 kinds of cosmetics. It greatly simplifies the judgment method of over-packaging of commodities. Consumers only need to check the weight or volume of the commodities themselves and measure the volume of the outermost packaging. Through calculation, it can be preliminarily determined whether there is over-packaging of commodities. Strictly limit the number of packaging layers, it is stipulated that grain and its processed products in food should not exceed three layers of packaging, and other food and cosmetics should not exceed four layers of packaging.

　Excessive packaging raises concerns

Revision and implementation of national standards

The Mid-Autumn Festival is approaching, and all kinds of moon cakes are on the market like a tide. While people marvel at the refurbished taste of moon cakes, they also complain about the "fine moon cakes" packed like dolls on the shelves. In particular, the "sky-high price moon cakes" that have become popular in the past two years are that moon cakes costing 2 yuan each have been made into holiday hard currency. There are moon cake gift boxes with high-grade silk scarves and two Huawei mobile phones, so that the price exceeds 50000 yuan.

When will the phenomenon of over-packaging, luxurious packaging and "more expensive than beads" like this stop? On September 2, in order to solve the problem of excessive packaging of food and cosmetics, the General Administration of Market Supervision (Standards Committee), together with the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and other departments, organized relevant standardization technical committees and technical institutions to revise the 2009 version of the standard, and formulated and issued the new mandatory national standard for food and cosmetics that restricts excessive packaging of commodities, which will be implemented from September 2023.

Considering that after the release of the new standard, food and cosmetics manufacturers need to design product packaging in accordance with the requirements of the new standard, and at the same time need to consume inventory packaging and goods for sale, especially cosmetics products with relatively long shelf life and relatively long circulation cycle. In order to avoid the impact on production and operation activities and new waste, on the basis of extensively soliciting the opinions of relevant industrial departments, industry associations and enterprises, the formal implementation of the new standard has set a two-year transition period.

　　Through a look, two questions and three calculations

Quickly judge whether it exceeds the standard

So, what are the manifestations of excessive packaging currently on the market?

The first performance is the gap is too large. In this regard, the standard according to the net content of different pieces of food and cosmetics, respectively, gives the specified porosity. Ma Aijin, a professor at the School of Food and Health of Beijing Industrial and Commercial University, said: "Specifically, for all products with a net content of 1 ml or 1 gram in the package, the packaging void ratio should be less than or equal to 85%; for all products with a net content of more than 50 ml or 50 grams in the package, the packaging void ratio should be less than or equal to 30%."

The second performance is the number of packaging layers too much. In this regard, the new standard is clear: the number of packaging layers of grain and its processed products should not exceed three layers, and other commodities should not exceed four layers. However, the new standard also makes it clear that if it is a material layer that directly contacts the contents and belongs to the inherent properties of the product, such as zongzi leaves, bamboo tubes, hollow capsules, etc., it may not be counted.

Ma Aijin said: "The understanding and calculation of the number of packaging layers in the standard is very clear. The packaging layer that directly contacts the contents of food and cosmetics is the first layer. Starting from the first layer, until the outermost sales packaging a total of several layers, that is, the level of packaging. Take tea packaging as an example. The metal or plastic packaging that directly contacts the tea is the first layer. From this, there are several layers of packaging, which is the number of layers of packaging."

The third performance is the high cost of packaging. The new standard makes it clear that production organizations should take measures to control the cost of all packaging, except for packaging that is in direct contact with the contents, not exceeding 20% of the selling price of the product. Simple calculation: a piece of moon cake with three layers of packaging, the sales price is 10 yuan, then in addition to the innermost layer of direct packaging moon cake packaging, the cost of the second and third layers of packaging can not exceed 20% of the price of 10 yuan, that is, 2 yuan.

When buying food and cosmetics, how can consumers quickly determine whether there is excessive packaging?

According to Wei Hong, deputy director of the Standards and Technology Department of the General Administration of Market Supervision, consumers can simply judge whether food, cosmetics and other commodities are over-packaged through "one look, two questions, and three calculations. One is to see whether the outer packaging of the goods is luxurious packaging and whether the packaging materials are expensive materials. Second, the new standard strictly limits the number of packaging layers. If the packaging cannot be unpacked, it is necessary to ask how many layers the packaging has and whether the number of layers meets the requirements. The third is to measure or estimate the volume of the outer package and compare it with the maximum allowable volume of the outer package to see if it exceeds the standard.

The new standard also makes it clear that the volume of food or cosmetic contents is expressed by multiplying the net content by the necessary space coefficient, and the value of the necessary space coefficient depends on the product. Taking liquor commodities as an example, the necessary space coefficient of liquor is 13, and the allowable packing void ratio of a bottle of 500 ml liquor is not more than 30%. It can be calculated that the maximum allowable volume of the outer packing of this bottle of liquor is 9285.7 cubic centimeters. Assuming that the length, width and height of the outer package of this bottle of wine are 20cm, 15cm and 30cm respectively, the actual outer package volume is 9000 cubic centimeters, which is less than the maximum allowable value and meets the standard requirements.

Implement the main responsibility of the enterprise

Rectification as soon as possible during the transition period

"Research shows that China's packaging waste accounts for about 30% to 40% of municipal solid waste, most of which is due to excessive packaging." Chen Hongjun, deputy director of the Standards and Technology Department of the General Administration of Market Supervision, said.

According to the data of the "2020 National Annual Report on the Prevention and Control of Environmental Pollution by Solid Waste in Large and Medium Cities" issued by the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, in 2019, the 196 large and medium cities produced 235.602 million tons of municipal solid waste. The phenomenon of "garbage besieged city" and "garbage besieged village" is becoming more and more serious. The release of the "restrictions on excessive packaging requirements for food and cosmetics" once again emphasizes the requirements for commodity packaging, which is to reduce resource consumption and packaging waste generation from the source, and reduce the burden on consumers.

Chen Hongjun said that according to the standardization law, products and services that do not meet the mandatory standards shall not be produced, sold, imported or provided. After the transition period, the market will not allow the reproduction and sale of food and cosmetics that do not meet the new standards. Therefore, enterprises are called on to rectify and meet the standards as soon as possible during the transition period.

For how to make the new standards better implementation, Wei Hong said, one is to implement the main responsibility of enterprises. Enterprises are the main body of the implementation of standards. Food and cosmetics enterprises should, in accordance with the requirements of the standardization law and the law on the prevention and control of environmental pollution by solid waste, earnestly raise their awareness, take the initiative, fulfill their corporate social responsibilities, implement, use and meet the standards as soon as possible, and supply higher quality, greener, more environmentally friendly and low-carbon products to the market.

The second is to strengthen the implementation of standards. The market supervision department will publicize the new standards in all aspects through various methods such as one-picture reading, standard interpretation, standard disclosure, online cloud classroom, etc. At the same time, it will organize standard training activities in conjunction with relevant departments to make technical reserves for legal and standard supervision.

The third is to guide consumers to carry out green consumption. By strengthening public opinion propaganda, creating a green consumption environment, guiding consumers to consciously practice the concept of green consumption, advocating economy, reducing waste, actively purchasing green and low-carbon products, and not purchasing or using over-packaged products.

It is reported that in the next step, the General Administration of Market Supervision, together with relevant departments, will completely, accurately and comprehensively implement the new development concept, disclose the full text of the standard free of charge in combination with the new deployment requirements of carbon peak and carbon neutrality, systematically carry out standard publicity and implementation training, step up supervision and law enforcement, and urge food and cosmetics manufacturers to start standard diagnosis and product packaging compliance design as soon as possible. At the same time, create a good environment of public opinion for green consumption, improve consumers' awareness of restricting excessive packaging standards, advocate reasonable consumption, and guide consumers not to buy excessive packaging products.