According to reports, a new round of environmental inspections in 2018 is coming, and the requirements for this inspection will be more stringent!

On March 29, 2018, the Ministry of Ecology and Environment announced the "Second Batch of Central Environmental Protection Inspectors in 7 Provinces (Cities) Public Transfer of Cases Accountability". 1,048 people were questioned in seven provinces, including Shanghai, Hubei, Guangdong, Chongqing, Shaanxi and Gansu.
 

A new round of environmental inspections is coming

The Ministry of Ecology and Environment held a regular press conference in March 2018. Liu Youbin, spokesperson of the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, said that the Ministry of Ecology and Environment resolutely shoulders the political responsibility of ecological civilization construction and environmental protection:

1. Closely focus on fighting the battle against pollution, especially winning the blue sky defense battle, and carry out the first round of environmental protection inspection "review".

2. It will take about three years to complete the second round of central environmental protection inspections.

3. For some key areas of pollution prevention and control, organize mobile and point-point environmental protection special inspections every year.

4. Establish a supervision system at the central and provincial levels, continuously improve the long-term mechanism for environmental protection, and promote high-quality economic development.
 

According to the recent institutional reform plan of the State Council, the Ministry of Ecology and Environment will assume the function of natural ecological supervision, and pollution control and strengthening supervision will be its key work.

Environmental policies will be introduced one after another

In recent years, environmental protection issues have had an impact on the pharmaceutical industry, which is obvious to all. Under the high pressure of environmental protection, many pharmaceutical companies have been forced to relocate, stop production, or even close.

In November 2017, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the Ministry of Environmental Protection, the National Health and Family Planning Commission, and the CFDA jointly issued the Notice on Doing a Good Job in the 2017-2018 Peak Production of Pharmaceutical Enterprises in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei and Surrounding Areas in the Heating Season, which is a notice specifically for pharmaceutical enterprises. It is clearly required that the subordinate departments formulate specific measures for the peak shifting production of APIs in the heating season, clarify the types of products to be stopped, the time limit for stopping production, and the methods of stopping production, and implement production suspension in strict accordance with the requirements.
 

On January 1, 2018, the Environmental Protection Tax Law will be officially implemented. After the introduction of the environmental tax, air and water pollutant emitting enterprises will be the most affected. Among them, the pharmaceutical industry, which has always been listed as a heavily polluting industry, cannot escape.

Many pharmaceutical companies are about to close

As early as last August, according to news, Shandong, Hebei and Tianjin closed 623 stores, relocated 265 and cut off 4,263 power. And according to the plan, all other "three no" enterprises will be closed in October. Henan closed 407 companies, relocated 140, signed 54 relocation agreements, and cut off 1,336 power. According to the plan, all 2,577 'three no' enterprises will be closed in September.

Based on the above data, we can roughly predict the impact of environmental inspections on the manufacturing industry, especially the pharmaceutical industry, that a large number of pharmaceutical companies will be closed in 2018 due to environmental pressure.
 

Previously, Harbin Pharmaceutical said in its announcement, "In recent years, the company has invested a total of 400 million yuan in clean production and environmental protection, mainly building wastewater pretreatment and sewage treatment, odor, boiler flue gas, noise and other pollution treatment facilities." The annual operating cost of various environmental protection facilities is more than 50 million yuan."

According to the Environmental Protection Tax Law, all environmental protection taxes are regarded as local revenues, and the central government will no longer participate in the share, which will further stimulate local motivation for environmental governance. In this case, it is even more difficult for some pharmaceutical companies to seek local protection.

It can be seen that with the new round of State Council reform, the establishment of the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, and the implementation of the Environmental Protection Tax Law, the intensity of environmental protection supervision will inevitably rise to a new height, and the pharmaceutical industry, especially API enterprises, will also become a key supervision object. In this situation, transformation is especially important for pharmaceutical companies.