China’s GAC provides update on border enforcement

China’s General Administration of Customs (GAC) has released further information on its efforts to crack down on the illegal shipment of waste into the country.

In a news release, the GAC says it will be working in collaboration with its Environmental Protection Department; police; and the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine (AQSIQ), the government-run inspection organization, to carry a joint action from March 1 to Nov. 30, 2017. The goal of the group will be to strengthen the supervision of imports into the country and to crack down on all illegal activities with regard to importing foreign waste.

The GAC says the Joint Task Group formed by the four departments will crack down any suspected illegal activities found on any step from imports through the final recycling process.

According to the GAC, the goals of the crackdown's goals include:

• thoroughly supervising the enterprises concerned and the materials held in stock;
• following all leads, performing in-depth investigations toward the full chain of activities and taking immediate legal action against individual or entities breaking the law;
• identifying high-risk goods and enterprises for priority checking, conducting follow-up checks of those enlisted as high-risk targets and penalizing those convicted of not really doing recycling or supplying/possessing illegal goods. 

To accomplish this, GAC says the joint task force will crack down on the smuggling of foreign waste, which includes industrial waste, electronic scrap, household waste, plastic waste and other types of waste. Additionally, the task force will focus much of its attention on the various transportation channels, including on the water and at noncustoms point smuggling areas.

The GAC says the task force will work closely with international law enforcement channels to strengthen the intelligence on foreign waste streams and timely take out necessary joint actions and maintain a high-profile and unrelenting stance in the crackdown of foreign waste smuggling.

A plastics recycler says the recent announcement indicates that GAC plans to deter the smuggling of solid waste through its periodic news updates.