Seyfarth Synopsis: The Chinese Ministry of Environmental Protection has just announced criminal, civil, and administrative enforcement statistics, and put companies on notice that those who violate environmental laws and rules may face blacklisting, including restrictions to their future business endeavors.
We have previously written about the need for multinational companies operating in China to comply with Chinese environmental and workplace safety laws and regulations. See for instance Multinationals in China Should be Aware of Increased Enforcement of Environmental Law, Monitoring Requirements – and Fraud, and International Employers Watch Out: China Will Assign Hefty Fines for Worker Safety Violations.
Now more recently, in the last thirty days, the Ministry of Environmental Protection (MEP) in the People's Republic of China (PRC) has been publishing notices and warnings to "polluters" and industries about their potentially non-compliant business activities.
For example, the MEP's just-released news announcement summarizing enforcement actions makes clear just how serious China is taking compliance failures of environmental laws and rules. Specifically, the August 1, 2016, notice, Supreme People's Court Releasing White Paper on China's Environmental Resource Trial, provides a progress report "since the establishment of Environmental Resource Courts." In this regard, the notice provides the following eye-popping statistics about China's enforcement activities from January 2014 to June 2016 by its courts nationwide:
- A total of 37,216 criminal cases of first instance trial involving air, water and soil pollution that brought 47,087 people to justice;
- A total of 195,141 civil cases of first instance trial involving resource ownership, environmental infringement and contract disputes; and
- The conclusion of 57,738 administrative cases of first instance trial involving the environment and its resources.
Only a few days earlier, on July 28, 2016, the MEP, together with 30 other government agencies, issued another announcement warning companies that those who seriously violate environmental laws and rules will face restrictions to their future business endeavors. Specifically, companies may be barred from entering certain businesses, blocked from applying for business permits, or disqualified from loans. In the words of the MEP, "[t]hey will not qualify for preferential policies." The MEP also highlights 14 serious violations, including operating or engaging in construction work without environmental assessments or permits, and illegally discharging pollutants.
The MEP notes that it will manage a blacklist of companies with "bad environment records" and will share it with other government agencies.
In fact, in what can be viewed as a prospective "industry sweep," on July 28, 2016, the MEP announced a "national-scale environmental inspection" in the iron and steel industry. The notice states that local areas will be required to strengthen enforcement activities and inspections in this industry, as well as "make effort to reveal, solve, and expose a batch of prominent environmental violations in this industry."
According to Tian Weiyong, Director General of the Ministry's Bureau of Environmental Supervision and Inspection, under this program, local areas are required to organize inspectors and inspections involving the "main firms in the iron and steel industry" within their administrative regions. The inspections will also assess how well the iron and steel makers have "attained emission standards and installed and run the automatic monitoring equipment." The inspections are slated to occur between June and October 2016.
Multinational businesses and industries that have interests and facilities in China–especially now in the iron and steel industries– may wish to examine the extent of any potential liability in their holdings, in particular since companies with "bad environment records" may be subject to business-disrupting (if not ending) blacklisting.
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