China Environmental Law

The State Council on Monday demanded that local governments buy “more energy-efficient products.”  Local governments have apparently been slacking in their obligations to go green (what else is new?), so the State Council is now insisting on “the strict implementation of a compulsory green procurement list, instead of a “preferential” list under the Government Purchase Law, which allowed government bodies to shop around for other products if they could justify them on cost and energy-efficiency grounds.”

It is hoped that if energy-efficiency products are purchased by China’s government at all levels, not only will energy-efficiency receive a boost, but energy-efficiency products will receive a huge increase in demand via government purchasing¹, and a good example set by the government (concerning the operational savings generated by these products) will increase demand for them among the general populace.

There are only nine types of products currently on the compulsory “green procurement list:”

• Refrigerators
• Room Air Conditioners
• Double Capped Fluorescents for General Service Lighting
• Self-ballasted Fluorescents for General Service Lighting
• Televisions
• Computers & Computer Monitors
• Printers
• Toilets
• Faucets

Federal, state and municipal purchasing agents when procuring products from a category appearing on the Energy Efficiency List, must give priority to the products on List.

Getting on the list can prove problematic for foreign companies.  First, China has not joined the WTO Government Procurement Agreement, although negotiations are ongoing; and as the United States Department of Commerce, International Trade Administration, has noted in a publication entitled “Clean Energy: An Exporter’s Guide to China” has noted

The efficiency specifications for each product are those underlying China’s current energy efficiency labeling program run by the China Standard Certification Center (CSC, formerly the China Certification Center for Energy Conservation Products). Qualified procurement models must receive CSC certification, which can present a problem for U.S. firms and their products.

No harm in trying, however.