The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs ("MARA") has recently issued the Administrative Measures for Agricultural Film (for Trial Implementation) (Draft for Comment) (the "Draft for Comment") for public comment by January 6, 2020.
The Draft for Comment mainly touches upon: 1. establishing a regulatory regime that covers the whole chain; 2. regulating practices of production, sales and use; 3. ensuring the fulfillment of responsibilities for recycling; 4. encouraging the reutilization of used agricultural film; and 5. specifying the supervisory checks and measures and the legal liability. Among others, the Draft for Comment expressly states that producers shall comply with the standards pertaining to agricultural film, affix the enterprise logos onto their products, draw a clear line between fully biodegradable agricultural film and non-fully biodegradable agricultural film regarding the contents indicated on their certificates of qualification, and create sales records for agricultural film delivered out of the factory. Meanwhile, sellers shall check the packaging, labels and quality certificates of agricultural film according to law, and shall neither purchase or sell the agricultural film that is not up to the compulsory national standards, nor sell the film not intended for agricultural use to agricultural film users, and shall establish standing books for their sales.