Study On China Entry-Exit Quarantine Of Shipping Packaging

As outer packaging which facilitates storage and transportation of products, shipping packaging used in international trade carry not only products, but also pests and diseases among customs territories. Nowadays strict entry quarantine of foreign countries sets high requirements for shipping packaging of Chinese exports; on the other hand, pests and diseases brought by entry shipping packaging also threaten our agriculture, forestry and public health. Therefore, continuously improving China entry-exit quarantine of shipping packaging will help to prevent epidemic and protect environment and health as well as speed clearance and promote international trade.Based on international and national regulations on entry-exit quarantine of shipping packaging and current quarantine situation and procedure, this paper points out problems of China entry-exit quarantine of shipping packaging, and finally concludes countermeasures to improve it. Given high quarantine risk and serious quarantine situation of wood packaging and containers, this paper mainly discusses their entry-exit quarantine. Other botanic shipping packaging is also mentioned.At first, three related international regulations on phytosanitary and sanitary quarantine are introduced—International Standards for Phytosanitary Measures 15 (ISPM15), International Health Regulation (IHR), and Agreement on the Application of Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures (SPS Agreement). ISPM15 was published by International Plant Protection Organization, describing treatment and marking of wood packaging. IHR was enacted by World Health Organization, regulating competent authorities'responsibilities in preventing and controlling the spread of disease. SPS Agreement was passed by WTO, listing some principles to follow when taking sanitary and phytosanitary measures. Then national regulations are introduced. Currently, entry-exit quarantine of shipping packaging is directly under supervision of China Entry and Exit Inspection and Quarantine Bureau (CIQ) and generally General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine (AQSIQ). There are two laws and over twenty regulations concerning entry-exit quarantine of shipping packaging.Wood packaging is wood materials used to brace, support, or secure cargos. It is mainly subject to plant quarantine due to its nature. From the perspective of exit quarantine, China has been applying ISPM15 since 2005. The new regulation largely standardized authorities'supervision; meanwhile violation concerning the newly-adopted IPPC mark became a main reason why China exit wood packaging got notified by foreign countries. The procedure of exit quarantine of wood packaging is that①treatment providers apply to local authorities for qualification of treatment and marking, and then conduct them under authorities'supervision;②exporters declare for wood packaging with declaration for commodities;③authorities at port randomly check wood packaging after examining documents to confirm marks and detect epidemic, and then bring living pests and suspected wood back to laboratory verification;④intercepted wood packaging is re-treated or destructed. Through analyzing current situation and procedure, five problems are found:①defective treatment of wood packaging:living pests are detected from treated wood packaging because of technical flaws of treatment as well as man-made problems;②improper storage of wood packaging:wood packaging gets secondary infection of storage pests because of improper storage;③forgery of marks:sell, steal, imitate, alter and forgery of marks arises because IPPC mark as the basis for quarantine lacks of effective anti-counterfeiting method;④ignorance of quarantine regulations of destinations:exporters get notified because they ignore destination countries'requirements on marks or certificates;⑤escape from quarantine:treatment providers and exporters escape from quarantine through cross-regional sale, cross-regional usage and false declaration. From the perspective of entry quarantine, China implemented emergency phytosanitary measures on wood packaging from U.S., Japan, South Korea and E.U in 2000 and 2002 respectively, and applied ISPM15 from 2006. Nowadays, epidemic carried by entry wood packaging constantly grows with the increasing traffic. The procedure of entry quarantine of wood packaging is that①importers declare for wood packaging with declaration for products;②authorities at port randomly check wood packaging after examining documents to confirm marks and detect epidemic, and then bring living pests and suspected wood back to laboratory verification;③intercepted wood packaging is re-treated, destructed, or returned. Through analyzing current situation and procedure, four problems are found:①interception from the compliantly marked:epidemic is detected from wood packaging with compliant marks especially multiple marks because of default of foreign exit quarantine or secondary infection during transport;②escape from quarantine:exporters escape from quarantine through false declaration;③illegal disposal of wood packaging:carriers, dockers and importers arbitrarily remove, discard or resell wood packaging without quarantine;④inadequate punishment of violations:punishment criteria of forgery, false declaration and arbitrary disposal is too low and punishment of using non-compliantly marked wood packaging is undefined.As for other botanic shipping packaging like rattan baskets, willow cases and straw bags, is subject to quarantine according to Trial Measures for the Management of Animal and Plant Quarantine of Entry and Exit Containers and Packaging Materials. Special attention should be paid to the processed wood packaging which is now under no compulsory restriction. It may still get secondary infestation by storage pests despite of deep process like glue and heat. Authorities should change the mindset and increase its sample rate. substances harmful to public health, thus subject to plant quarantine and sanitary quarantine. China strengthened entry-exit quarantine of containers through Measures for the Entry and Exit Quarantine of Containers enacted in 2000, and specific working procedures enacted in 2004. With yearly traffic growing about 30% for a decade, quarantine situation of entry-exit containers becomes serious. The epidemic is affected by season, origin and commodities. Because the quarantine procedure of containers is relatively complicated, this paper organizes it in terms of plant quarantine, sanitary quarantine, exit new containers, exit heavy containers, entry empty containers, and entry heavy containers:①containers with quarantine commodities and/or from epidemic area are subject to plant quarantine;②all containers are subject to sanitary quarantine;③exit new containers are not quarantined if they are not floored with wood or they are floored with wood with quarantine certificates;④exit heavy containers are quarantined at the place of shipment or departure;⑤entry empty containers are randomly checked at port or one-by-one checked by assistant inspectors at container yards;⑥entry heavy containers are quarantined at port or designate place. Through analyzing current situation and procedure, five problems are found:①defective quarantine of inside wood packaging:permanent wooden devices inside a container are not subject to ISPM15 and wood packaging of full container load non-quarantined commodities do not have to declare;②serious violation of empty containers:many import-forbidden objects like garbage are found from entry empty containers because foreign users did not clean the containers or transported contamination deliberately through them;③nonstandard management of container yards:there is not specific national regulation of follow-up supervision on container yards after registration and most yards do not reach requirements in IHR(2005) for vector control;④ambiguous standard of punishment:there is not specific national regulation on punishment criteria of violations concerning containers;⑤insufficient cooperation between authorities:customs release containers with non-quarantine commodities regardless of its quarantine status, and plant quarantine and sanitary quarantine are separated, and communication is inadequate when quarantine is performed by authorities at different places.Based on the problems of China entry-exit quarantine of shipping packaging, suggestions are recommended from four perspectives—treatment providers, exporter/importers, container yards and authorities. For treatment providers, firstly they should explore new treatment against current ones which are default or producing pollution; secondly they should upgrade core equipment like heat kiln and rebuild or expand treatment field; finally they should apply anti-counterfeiting methods like GPS digital security, RFID security, ink security, two-dimension code security and holographic image security to fight back forgery. For exporters/importers, first they should improve quarantine awareness through transaction from making a contract to performing it; secondly they could use alternative materials like oriented strand board, plywood and honeycomb board to evade quarantine risk legally. For container yards, firstly they should upgrade facilities to hold more types of containers; secondly they should apply for assistant system which will largely facilitate their development.Authorities dominate entry-exit quarantine of shipping quarantine, thus an improvement of their supervision is in need. Firstly, they should improve professional skill:①growing amount of traffic and false declaration set higher requirements for on-site inspection, calling for authorities to equip inspectors, through training courses, with comprehensive knowledge in both animal and plant quarantine and sanitary quarantine, familiarity with contamination feature and increasing safety awareness;②authorities should invest for laboratory construction, establish standard procedure, and strive for accreditation;③on-site inspection and laboratory verification could be connected through video and audio system to further improve efficiency. Secondly, they should promote electronic management:①electronic retrospect system will effectively manage treatment, usage, and clearance of exit wood packaging;②electronic transfer system will facilitate communication between authorities at port and authorities at designate or shipment place;③electronic release system will coordinate supervision of CIQ and customs. Thirdly, they should establish video surveillance:①setting cameras at key spots in providers' facilities will realize remote monitoring of their treatment, marking, and finished store;②setting cameras at key spots at ports and yards will help determine sample rate, delivery instruction immediately, control disposal at isolation and monitor assistant inspectors'operation;③setting cameras at key spots at importers/exporters will achieve remote control of their store and disposal of wood packaging and concentrative quarantine. Fourthly, they should develop classified management:①authorities provide facilities like reducing sample rate, concentrative quarantine for enterprise with good record based on credit file of participants like domestic and foreign treatment providers, importers and exporters and so on;②authorities treat shipping packaging differently according to the commodities, shipment place and so on. Fifthly, they should strengthen punishment as well as education:①authorities should specify punishment criteria and tighten inspection and punishment against violations;②authorities should lunch educational activities to participants like exporters/importers and treatment providers through media like official websites, brochures and seminars.