Minister Ni Yuefeng directs the 1st round of the “Blue Sky 2019” campaign against smuggling of solid waste.

On the early morning of March 22, under the command of Minister Ni Yuefeng, the GACC launched the first round of the “Blue Sky 2019” campaign to combat solid waste smuggling. Through the special action, Guangdong Sub-Administration and 11 participating  Customs Districts (in 8 provinces/municipalities) busted 22 smuggling syndicates, captured 115 criminal suspects, and seized 338,100 tons of illicit imported waste including waste plastics and waste slag.

On the basis of remarkable progress of the “Blue Sky 2018” campaign, the GACC is further advancing the “Blue Sky 2019” to control and prevent illicit imported waste from entry. Through unremitting crackdown efforts, the waste smuggling has been heavily suppressed in momentum, with such criminal cases reduced considerably in frequency. Since this year (till March 20), the legally-imported solid waste has reached 3.02 million tons, down 37% year-on-year, while the investigated smuggling cases totaled 53 in number, down 43% year-on-year, with 67.9% thereof seized in the past few years.

Last year, as highlight of the joint campaign “National Sword 2018”, five rounds of “Blue Sky 2018” were carried out by China Customs in an intensive, clustered and full-chain manner. 481 cases of solid-waste smuggling were investigated and 1.55 million tons of waste verified.

In the next stage, China Customs will continue the prevention and crackdown on waste smuggling by deepening law-enforcement cooperation with foreign countries/regions as well as with domestic public security, environmental protection, and market regulation authorities, so as to safeguard domestic eco-environment and human health.