Officers of China Customs said they had seized over 8500 tons of waste tires from 366 containers at Dongjiangkou wharf of Guangzhou on December 23, 2009. This is the largest solid waste smuggling case China Customs has cracked in recent years. The waste tires were transferred to relevant department for proper treatment.

Waste tires are known as high-polluting hazards that may pose great environmental risks. According to China Rubber Industry Association, waste tires have the properties of heat resistance and low degradability. This solid waste, if buried in land, won’t decompose after a hundred years; if renewed, the defects of the “new” products may pose danger to user’s life; and if disposed improperly, it will cause damage to the plants, to people’s health and the whole ecological system.

As the government agency that supervises and manages all arrivals in and departures from China, China Customs, while following closely the Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and Their Disposal and other relevant domestic laws, has adopted a full range of effective measures to stop the illegal trafficking of hazardous wastes and protect the environment. From 2005 to 2009, China Customs has broken 299 wastes trafficking cases in which 44275.8 tons solid wastes were seized (including industrial waste, household waste and dangerous waste). We have imposed mandatory measures on 609 smuggling suspects, effectively stopping the worsening of the situation.

China Customs, who understands well the nature and tendency of the illegal trafficking of solid waste after numerous case studies , has launched such special campaigns as “Sky Patching”, “Joint Efforts by Hongkong and Guangdong to Stop Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes” and “ Earth Goddess” to block the entry of the hazards. These campaigns have produced positive results, especially the action codenamed “Sky Patching”. “Sky Patching”, an action supported by the Regional Intelligence Liaison Office for Asia and the Pacific of the World Customs Organization (WCO), was launched by China Customs in September 2006 together with the Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific of UNEP and national customs administrations in the Asia-Pacific region. By July 2007 when this action came to an end, 56 illegal solid waste trafficking cases had been seized. This brilliant score sheet helped China Customs gain the Implementers Award in the commemorating activities of the 20th anniversary of the Montreal Protocol. In April 2009, another effective campaign which aims at stopping the illegal transboundary movement of the solid waste from Europe-- “Earth Goddess” was carried out by China Customs. “Earth Goddess” seized 30 cases, intercepted 8926.7 tons of solid wastes，detained 23 suspects, and “punished” 21 smugglers and a dozen enterprises.

China Customs enhanced the communication with foreign customs administrations, law enforcement departments and relevant international organizations in an attempt to reach enforcement consensus with them. We also worked closely with such domestic departments as environmental protection, administration of inspection and quarantine, administration for industry and commerce to establish a cross-sector work mechanism under which information collection and sharing will be improved and synergy will be strengthened.