On April 18, 2022, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology publicly solicited opinions on the Amended Document No. 1 (the 2nd Draft for Comments) of the Requirements of Restricting Excessive Package—Foods and Cosmetics. The deadline for comments is April 24, 2022. The amended document is mainly for restricting excessive package of moon cake and zongzi. The changes in this Draft are as follows.

Adjust package layers for moon cakes and zongzi

According to the functional requirements of package design, combined with market research, the package layer for moon cakes and zongzi is adjusted from "no more than four layers" to "no more than three layers".

Modify requirements for package cost

According to package needs of moon cake and zongzi, and to curb extravagance and eliminate luxury package, it is stipulated that the package of moon cakes and zongzi should not use precious materials such as precious metals and mahogany.

In order to further restrict excessive package of moon cake and zongzi and reduce package cost, it is added that "for moon cake and zongzi with sales price over 100 Yuan, the package cost shall not exceed 15% of sales price."

Added requirements for mixed packages of moon cakes and zongzi

According to the Announcement No. 33 [2005] of the National Development and Reform Commission, where it is stipulated that "moon cake may not be sold in any form of tying sale", it is determined that moon cake shall not be multi-packed with other commodities. Considering the consumption habits of zongzi and traditional culture in some regions of China, it is determined that zongzi shall not be multi-packed with commodities exceeding zongzi's value.

Adjusted the k value of moon cake and zongzi

Combined with density difference of moon cake and zongzi while considering the product innovation and market development, the k value of moon cake is adjusted from 12.0 to 7.0 and that of zongzi is adjusted from 12.0 to 5.0.

In addition, in order to curb the excessive package of moon cakes and zongzi as soon as possible, by taking into account the shelf life of moon cake, it is recommended to implement the provisions from August 15, 2022. The moon cake package newly designed and produced in 2022 shall comply with the provisions on moon cake and zongzi in the amended document and GB 23350-2021. Taking into account the stock package in 2021 and shelf life of food, in order to avoid new waste, it is recommended that the moon cake and zongzi produced before the implementation date can be sold until the end of their shelf life.

The implementation of the standard is supervised by the local market regulation department. The penalty for violation of the standard shall refer to Chapter V, Article 49 of the Product Quality Law.

Source: MIIT & Antion

Note: This article is compiled by Antion, please indicate our source if reprint it.