Selective Enforcement

China environmental watch dogs are going after foreign firms for environment violations. Fine, no problem with that. But the vast amount of pollution does not come from foreign firms which are typically sensitive to bad press and environmental issues.

A senior official at the environment watchdog yesterday vowed to mete out equally harsh punishments to domestic and foreign-funded firms that violate environmental laws.

Translation: we are going after foreign firms.

Ren Longjiang, an official with the State Environmental Protection Administration (SEPA), said all enterprises must obey environmental laws and regulations.

Translation: all foreign enterprises, that is.

He made the marks after Unilever China and the China branch of Hitachi Construction Machinery Co, the only two foreign-funded companies targeted in a random inspection by the environmental watchdog earlier this year, were found discharging more wastewater than permitted.

We were surprised to find both companies had pollution problems as they were the only two foreign companies selected at random for the inspection," Ren said.

Isn't it strange that the only two foreign firms they randomly tested were in violation of the law? Which Chinese companies did they randomly test?

"Environmental pollution caused by foreign-funded companies has come to the attention of SEPA, and we will strengthen our supervision," Ren told the Xinhua News Agency.

The rest of the quote reads: "with the intent to embarrass America and Europe for challenging the "Made in China" label and using the UN to place pressure on us for our pollution problems".

On May 24, a SEPA inspection team found that Unilever's plant in Hefei, Anhui Province, had discharged wastewater with a chemical oxygen demand (COD) of 379 mg per liter. The legal limit for this measure of organic pollutants is 330 mg/l. The company is part of a multinational group that produces soap, shampoo and other cleaners.

If they are polluting in violation of the legal limit, they should be punished; but I'd sure like to hear from Unilever. But I think it is crutial to tell us which Chinese firms were tested and what were the results.

The company was fined 100,000 yuan (US$13,000) and ordered to scale back production to discharge less wastewater. Unilever has also paid fees of 47,136 yuan for excessive discharges.

I would normally assume by the size of the fine that the amount of pollution was so close to the permitted levels that a nominal fine will suffice. I can't make those assumptions in China. If you are going to curb pollution, the size of the fine should be sufficient to discourage future disdeeds. US$ 13,000 isn't sufficient.