China says it will ban foreign waste this year

On 18 July, China announced to the World Trade Organization an intention to ban the import of waste products from US, Japan, Australia and other source countries, to take full effect by the end of 2017.

According to data from Reuters, China accounts for 56 per cent of the world’s waste product imports.

The Australian Peak Shippers Association (ASPA) has made the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade aware of this development soon after the filing was made.

In a statement, ASPA said that although the ban does not currently extend to all waste products, it is the most severe move to date under China’s anti-foreign garbage campaign, and it will have an impact on several APSA members, as well as significant consequences for the way Australia treats waste domestically.

APSA has been working closely with DFAT in response to this development, as well as industry bodies including Waste Recycling Industry Queensland. They understand that DFAT will be coordinating a formal submission in response to the filing before 1 September 2017.

See the list of affected products below, which includes solid, liquid and plastic waste.

http://www.ftalliance.com.au/data/news_attachments/chn1211.pdf

http://www.ftalliance.com.au/data/news_attachments/chn1212.pdf

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