Since the 14th Five Year Plan, the customs, together with relevant departments such as public security, have raised the 'national defense sword', carried out special operations, deepened international law enforcement cooperation, and vigorously cracked down on smuggling crimes. A total of 23000 smuggling crimes have been investigated, with a value of nearly 480 billion yuan and a tax of over 60 billion yuan. The smuggling crimes of key commodities such as foreign garbage, endangered species, drugs, and controlled items have been effectively curbed, "said Sun Meijun, Director General of the General Administration of Customs, at a series of themed press conferences on the high-quality completion of the 14th Five Year Plan held by the State Council Information Office today.
The 'Blue Sky' campaign has severely cracked down on foreign garbage related smuggling, resulting in a significant reduction
During the transportation, storage, or processing of 'foreign garbage', its harmful substances and accompanying pathogens can cause irreversible pollution to soil, water, and air, posing a threat to the physical and mental health of the people. Since 2021, China has completely banned the import of solid waste, effectively curbing the environmental pollution caused by "foreign garbage" and promoting the transformation and upgrading of the domestic renewable resources industry.
In recent years, the General Administration of Customs has continued to carry out the "Blue Sky" special operation, implementing uninterrupted, high-density, cluster based, and full chain crackdowns, resolutely blocking "foreign garbage" outside the country's borders.
It is reported that since the 14th Five Year Plan, customs have inspected over 9 million batches of imported and exported goods, and returned over 10000 batches of unqualified mineral products and recycled metals. Strictly prohibit the entry of foreign garbage, return more than 4000 batches of solid waste, and investigate 589 criminal cases of smuggling waste. We have carried out comprehensive rectification of dangerous goods at ports, with a total of more than 9000 cases of false and concealed reporting detected, and 130000 batches of unqualified dangerous goods detected, fully safeguarding the safety of the country's borders.
Some of the containers we seized were filled with waste plastics, old clothes, and slag, which carried a large amount of bacteria and harmful substances, posing an impact on people's health and the ecological environment, "said Sun Meijun.
She stated that through continuous high-pressure crackdown, the smuggling of foreign garbage has been significantly reduced, and the weight of solid waste verified in 2024 has decreased by 96% compared to 2020.
China Customs has also launched an international joint operation under the framework of the World Customs Organization to combat solid waste smuggling, known as the "Goddess of the Earth" operation. Since the 14th Five Year Plan, the "Goddess of the Earth" operation has been launched for five consecutive periods, with a total of 35000 tons of smuggled waste reported and seized by participating countries (regions). This operation has become a public product of global customs ecological environment law enforcement cooperation, enhancing the global joint efforts to combat solid waste smuggling.
