G/TBT/W/472  
 
17 April 2018  
(18-2327) Page: 1/2 
Committee on Technical Barriers to Trade  Original: English  
 
CHINA — CHINESE ENVIRONMENTA L PROTECTION CONTROL  STANDARDS  
FOR IMPORTED SOLID W ASTE AS RAW MATERIAL S 
STATEMENT BY THE EUR OPEAN UNION TO THE C OMMITTEE ON TECHNICA L BARRIERS TO TRADE  
21 AND 22 MARCH 2018  
The following communication, dated 16 April 2018, is being circulated at the request of the 
delegation of the European Union . 
 
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1.  The European Union would like to thank the Chinese authorities for providing the opportunity to 
comment on the 11 draft " Environmenta l protection co ntrol standards for imported solid waste as 
raw materials " notified on 15 Novemb er 2017.  On 9 February, the European Union provided its 
comments to these 11 new standards, however China did not reply to our concerns up to this day, 
despite the fact that th ese standards were scheduled to enter into force on 1 March.  
2.  The EU would like to stress that the above -mentioned standards were notified to the TBT 
Committee on 15 November 2017 , allowing only 30 -days comment ing period, which expired on 
15 December 2017. The EU would like therefore recall that according to Article 2.9.4 of the TBT 
Agreement, Members shall, without discrimination, allow reasonable time for other Members to 
make comments on notified draft technical regulations. In the European Union 's opinio n a 30 -day 
commenting period was not sufficiently long and thus goes against the provision of Article 2.9.4 of 
the TBT Agreement.  
3.  Further to this, t he EU would like to underline  that a period of 14 weeks between the 
notification of draft measures and their  entry into force is not sufficient for the related industry and 
economic operators to adapt  to these new measures . The EU therefore recalls that the Committee 
decided that the phrase "reasonable intervals" as foreseen by Article 2.12. of  the TBT Agreement, 
shall be understood to mean normally a period of not less than six months (G/TBT/M/26 of 6 May 
2002).  
4.  The EU therefore kindly request s China to consider, in the light of its obligations under the TBT 
Agreement, a longer and  more realis tic transitory period for the enforcement of the Standards, 
which in EU's views should not be inferior to nine months.  
5.  Although t he EU agrees with the environmental objectives of China, we would like to stress that 
the entry into force of the standards in  question on 1 March could have a counter -productive effect  
in a short term  if alternative recycling capabilities cannot be ensured in Europe or in other third 
countries but if instead the scheduled exportations end up in landfill s or incineration , thus ca using  
a negative impact on the environment .  
6.  The EU would be thankful for a justification on the need to lower the maximum level of 
impurities in relation with the  currently existing Standards on  imported waste. The EU would be 
interested to receive eviden ce-based information on the rationale behind the new requested 
maximum levels of impurities (prohibitive materials) per type of waste, the expected impact on the 
protection of the environment, and the reason why the currently existing standard s are conside red 
insufficient to reach the same goals, taking into account ability of commonly used industrial 
processes to handle impurities without any significant damage to the environment or public health.  G/TBT/W/472  
 
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  7.  The EU would also like to ask China if it has assessed the  impact of the new Standards on 
importation and the supply chain and if China has considered another alternative measures able to 
fulfil the same envi ronmental goals in a less trade -restrictive manner.   
8.  The EU would also like to have information about the manner in which the new Standards will 
be implemented, which methods will be applied to test the compliance with th e new requirements 
and when, where , and by whom the  tests will be carried out.    
9.  The EU takes this opportunity to kindly request  from China  information  on the standards 
applied to the domestic production of the  same  types of waste and non -waste scrap materials as 
targeted by the new Standards. In this respect, the EU would like to know if the maximum levels 
of impurities required by the new Sta ndards are the same or higher than those required by the 
Chinese standards applied to the domestic production , and if these standards applied to the 
domestic producti on are voluntary or mandatory.  
10.  Finally, the EU kindly requests from China a confirmation about its intentions to notify 
additional measures for other types of waste, including not only new standards for other types of 
waste but also an extension of the ban on imported waste notified in the Catalogue of Solid Waste 
Forbidden to Import into Chin a by the end of 2017 (G/TBT/N/ CHN/1211).  
 
 
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