| Calls for CONSISTENCY |
| Tuesday,December 19,2006 Posted: 08:10 BJT(0010 GMT) China Daily |
China's industrial associations hope to participate in the draft of more "green" trade regulations of the European Union. Liu Meikun, vice chairman of the China Chamber of Commerce for the Import and Export of Machinery Products (CCCME), said at the recent European Union (EU)-China RoHS (Restriction of Hazardous Substance) Conference: "RoHS is challenging small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in China, which have difficulties in interior management and financing." Besides major bottlenecks for SMEs, enterprises have certain difficulties in understanding RoHS. He said, during the draft of the important environmental protection regulation, which took effect in July this year, many meetings were held to discuss the promulgation of the regulation, collecting shareholders' opinions. "Many industrial associations including the CCCME have made great efforts in research and training on this directive, but have few opportunities to take part in the long-term law-drafting process for orders such as these," he said. "It doesn't just influence countries that initiated the orders," Liu said. According to RoHS, all electronic and electrical products exported to the European Union are confronted with a "green" threshold These products are not allowed to contain substances that affect the environment and include Pb, Hg, Cd, CrVI, PBB and PBDE. "This directive covers some 10 areas of China's export goods, such as household appliances, telecommunications, tools, sports ware and medical products," said Chai Xiaolin, vice-director of the World Trade Division of the Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM). Liu also pointed out RoHS still has certain problems in relation to market regulations, sample planning and testing methodology. "To date, different countries still haven't reached consistent standards in these areas, which will create obstacles for EU enterprises, let alone Chinese ones." He hopes the European Union will provide certain support to industrial associations, in a bid to enhance SMEs' ability to adapt to RoHS. Speaking at the meeting, Miguel Ceballos Baron, head of the Trade and Economics Section of the Delegation of the European Commission to China, admitted: "China and Europe have the same goal in passing such regulations with an aim to protect the health and environment while facilitating trade. But there are still significant gaps and disparities between the two sides." "This creates uncertainty and unnecessary compliance costs for businesses," he said, pointing out RoHS would be reviewed in the future. Sources with MOFCOM said, Sino-EU trade volume surged to US$218.9 billion, a year-on-year rise of 24.2 per cent, during the first 10 months of this year. The bourgeoning trade accounts for 15.1 per cent of total foreign trade in China. Liu said, many of China's electronic enterprises are making efforts to adopt a more far-reaching strategic vision and higher social responsibilities to include RoHS compliance in their corporate development objectives. However, against the background of tightened control for China's electronic products, China is severely suffering from electronic waste being dumped at its back door. According to a State Environmental Protection Administration (SEPA)'s report released on the fifth anniversary of China's accession into the World Trade Organization (WTO) on December 12, 80 per cent of global electronic waste, including that from the European Union, has been exported to Asian countries. Among the waste, 90 per cent has been dumped in China. "China has become the largest electronic waste dumping ground in the world." The report suggested. The 85-page report stressed, China objects to "trade protectionism" actions in the name of "environmental protection." |
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