On December 16, 2021, China’s State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR) issued the third batch of lists and certification catalogues on green product assessment. Two national standards were released in this batch:
l GB/T 40718-2021 Green Product Assessment-Tyres (hereinafter referred to as the Tyres)
l GB/T 39761.1-2021 Green Product Assessment-Household Electric Appliances-Part 1: Refrigerators, Air-Conditioners and Washing machines (hereinafter referred to as the Appliances Part 1).
These two standards are parts of China’s plan for establishing a unified system for standardization, certification, and identification of green products. Currently, China has released 18 assessment standards for various goods. According to China National Institute of Standardization, the system is expected to be further enriched step by step in the near future.
Highlights of the standards:
· Abide by the General Principles for Green Product Assessment. These two standards consist of basic requirements as well as assessment indicator requirements.
· The basic requirement generally includes relevant laws and regulations, technics, technical management systems and other relevant national standards.
· The assessment indicator requirement is categorized into four dimensions at the first level: resource consumption, energy consumption, environmental pollution, and product quality. The first-level indicators in all the green product assessments are unfolded through those dimensions, including the Tyres and the Appliances Part 1.
· Affiliated to first-level assessment indicators are the second-level indicators with correspondent reference value. These indicators vary across different consumer goods. Therefore, the Tyres and the Appliances Part 1 have entirely different assessment indicators at the second level. For instances, in terms of resource properties, the Tyres takes rubber consumption and package materials as indicators at the second level. Yet, the Appliances Part 1 takes, but is not limited to, the generalization rate.
· Consumer goods can only be certified as green products on the condition that they meet both basic requirements together with assessment indiciator requirements.
The Tyres and the Appliances Part 1 are the third batch to be released for the green product assessment. The released assessment standards offer a unified benchmark for identifying and certifying green products. They also clarify a development direction for green product producers. Apart from issuing the standards, China also sides the green product producers with supporting measures, such as completing the governmental green products procurement system, encouraging state-owned enterprises to prioritize green products, establishing a communication platform for international cooperation, etc. Since it’s in line with China’s goal in reaching carbon peak before 2030 and becoming carbon neutral before 2060, the country will continue to devote efforts in encouraging green product consumption in the market.
Because more green product assessment standards are in the pipeline, relevant foreign manufacturers, especially those who have a rather big business in China, are suggested to stay up to date with the assessment requirements. Apart from standards releasing, the market for green product consumption in China is expected to be further enlarged as encouragement polices continue to be gradually carried out by the government. With products identified and certified as green products, such manufacturers and MNCs will gain advantages in entering the Chinese market for both the consumer market, and governmental or big project tenders.
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