The new standard standardizes the packaging requirements of 3 1 food and 16 cosmetics, which greatly simplifies the method of judging the over-packaging of goods. Consumers only need to look at the weight or volume of the goods themselves and measure the volume of the outermost packaging. Through calculation, they can preliminarily judge whether there is over-packaging problem in the goods. At the same time, the number of packaging layers is strictly limited, stipulating that the grain and its processed products in food should not exceed three layers of packaging, and other foods and cosmetics should not exceed four layers of packaging.
National mandatory standards say no to "over-packaging"
The Mid-Autumn Festival is just around the corner, and all kinds of moon cakes are flooding into the market. People are amazed at the taste of moon cakes, but they are at a loss for the "fine moon cakes" and "gift moon cakes" that are dazzling on the shelves, packed in large boxes and small boxes, and made like dolls inside and outside. Especially the "sky-high-priced moon cakes" that became popular in recent two years, every moon cake with 2 yuan money was made into holiday hard currency. Some moon cake gift boxes have high-grade silk scarves, and some also presented two Huawei mobile phones. It is not unusual for the price to exceed 50,000 yuan.
Now the phenomenon that over-packaging, luxury packaging and "bamboo slips" are more expensive than pearls can be stopped.
On September 2nd, in order to solve the problem of over-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 a new mandatory national standard, Food and Cosmetics with Restrictions on Over-packaging of Commodities, which will be implemented in September 2023.
It is understood that the new national standard stipulates the requirements of packaging porosity, packaging layers and packaging cost, as well as the corresponding calculation, detection and judgment methods. The specific contents include: first, the packaging requirements of 3 1 food and 16 cosmetics are standardized; Second, it greatly simplifies the method of judging excessive packaging of goods. Consumers only need to look at the weight or volume of the goods themselves and measure the volume of the outermost packaging. Through calculation, they can preliminarily judge whether there is over-packaging problem in the goods. Third, strictly limit the number of packaging layers. Grain and its processed products in food shall not exceed three layers of packaging, and other foods and cosmetics shall not exceed four layers of packaging. The new standards are conducive to guiding green production and consumption and effective supervision.
The new standard will be officially implemented on September 1 2023. Considering that after the release of the new standard, food and cosmetics manufacturers need to design product packaging compliance according to the requirements of the new standard, and at the same time, they need to consume inventory packaging and goods for sale, especially cosmetics products, which have a relatively long shelf life and a relatively long consumption cycle in circulation. In order to avoid the impact on production and business activities and new waste, a two-year transition period was set for the formal implementation of the new standard on the basis of extensive consultation with relevant industry departments, industry associations and enterprises.
How to identify over-packaging?
"One look, two questions, three calculations"
So what are the manifestations of over-packaging on the market at present?
The first manifestation of over-packaging is that the gap is too big. In this regard, the standard gives the specified porosity according to the different net contents of food and cosmetics. Ma, a professor at the School of Food Hygiene, Beijing Technology and Business University, said: "Specifically, the packaging void ratio of all commodities with a net content of less than or equal to 1 ml or 1 g should be less than or equal to 85%; For all goods with a net content of more than 50ml or 50g in the package, the package void ratio should be less than or equal to 30%. "
The second manifestation of over-packaging is that there are too many layers of packaging. In this regard, the new standard is clear: the number of packaging layers of grain and its processed products shall not exceed 3, and other commodities shall not exceed 4. However, the new standard also makes it clear that if the material layer is in direct contact with the contents, it belongs to the inherent properties of the product, such as zongzi leaves, bamboo tubes and hollow capsules, and can be excluded.
Ma said: "The understanding and calculation of the number of packaging layers in the standard are very clear. The packaging layer in direct contact with the contents of food and cosmetics is the first layer. Sales packaging from the first floor to the outermost layer is the level of packaging. Take tea packaging as an example. The metal or plastic packaging that is in direct contact with tea is the first layer, so there are several layers of packaging, which is the number of layers of packaging. "
The third manifestation of over-packaging is that the packaging cost is too high. The new standard makes it clear that the production organization should take measures to control the cost of all packages except those in direct contact with the contents not to exceed 20% of the sales price of the products. Simple accounting: the price of a three-layer moon cake is 10 yuan. Then, except for the innermost packaging that directly wraps moon cakes, the cost of the second and third packaging cannot exceed 20% of the selling price 10 yuan, that is, 2 yuan.
When consumers buy food and cosmetics, how to quickly judge whether there is over-packaging problem?
According to Wei Hong, deputy director of the Department of Standards and Technology of the General Administration of Market Supervision, consumers can simply judge whether there are over-packaging problems in food, cosmetics and other commodities through "one look, two questions and three calculations". The first is to see whether the outer packaging of goods is luxury packaging and whether the packaging materials belong to precious materials. Second, the new standard strictly limits the number of packaging layers. If the package can't be opened, ask how many layers there are and whether the number of layers meets the requirements. The third is to measure or estimate the volume of the outer packaging and compare it with the maximum allowable volume of the outer packaging to see if it exceeds the standard.
The new standard also makes it clear that the content volume of food or cosmetics is expressed by the net content multiplied by the necessary space coefficient, and the value of the necessary space coefficient depends on the product. Taking liquor as an example, the necessary space coefficient of liquor is 13, and the allowable packaging void ratio of a bottle of 500 ml liquor is less than 30%. Based on this, it can be calculated that the maximum allowable volume of the outer packaging of this bottle of liquor is 9285.7 cubic centimeters. Assuming that the length, width and height of the outer packaging of this bottle of wine are 20 cm, 15 cm and 30 cm respectively, the actual outer packaging volume is 9000 cubic centimeters, which is less than the maximum allowable value and meets the standard requirements.
Excessive packaging is a serious waste.
Correctly guide green consumption
"Research shows that packaging waste in China accounts for about 30% to 40% of municipal solid waste, and most of these packaging wastes are produced by over-packaging." Chen Hongjun, deputy director of the Department of Standards and Technology of the General Administration of Market Supervision, said.
According to the data of "Annual Report on Prevention and Control of Environmental Pollution by Solid Waste in Large and Medium-sized Cities in China in 2020" issued by the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, the output of domestic waste in 20 19 years and 196 large and medium-sized cities was 235.602 million tons. The problems of "garbage besieged city" and "garbage besieged village" are becoming more and more serious.
The national standard "Restricting over-packaging of commodities requires food and cosmetics" released this time once again emphasizes the requirements for commodity packaging, that is, reducing resource consumption and packaging waste from the source and reducing the burden on consumers.
Chen Hongjun said that according to the standardization law, products and services that do not meet the mandatory standards may not be produced, sold, imported or provided. After the transition period, foods and cosmetics that do not meet the new standards shall not be produced and sold in the market. Therefore, enterprises are called upon to rectify and meet the standards as soon as possible during the transition period.
Regarding how to better implement the new standards, Wei Hong said: First, implement the main responsibility of enterprises. Enterprises are the main body of standard implementation. In accordance with the requirements of the Standardization Law and the Law on the Prevention and Control of Environmental Pollution by Solid Waste, food and cosmetic enterprises should earnestly raise their awareness, take the initiative, fulfill their corporate social responsibilities, implement, use and meet the standards as soon as possible, and supply products with higher quality, greener and lower carbon to the market.
The second is to strengthen the implementation of standards. The market supervision department will publicize the new standards in an all-round way through reading pictures, interpreting standards, making standards public, and online cloud classes; At the same time, it will also organize standardized training activities with relevant departments to make technical reserves for legal supervision.
The third is to guide consumers to make green consumption. By strengthening public opinion propaganda, we will create a green consumption environment, guide consumers to consciously practice the concept of green consumption, advocate saving and reducing waste, actively buy green, environmentally friendly and low-carbon products, and do not buy or use over-packaged goods.
It is reported that the General Administration of Market Supervision, together with relevant departments, will comprehensively, accurately and comprehensively implement the new development concept, publicize the full text of standards free of charge, systematically carry out publicity and training on standards, strengthen supervision and law enforcement, and urge food and cosmetics production enterprises to start standard compliance diagnosis and product packaging compliance design as soon as possible. At the same time, create a good public opinion environment for green consumption, improve consumers' awareness of the standards for restricting excessive packaging of goods, advocate rational consumption, and guide consumers not to buy over-packaged goods, thus contributing to a beautiful living environment with sky blue, green land and clear water.