The Chinese government’s recent enforcement of environmental protection laws continues to disrupt global supply chains.
In just one year, China’s Ministry of Environmental Protection sent inspectors to 30 provinces in China and punished officials in more than 80,000 factories with fines or incarceration as part of a nationwide pollution crackdown. And the Ministry reportedly already issued 280 million yuan ($43 million) in fines by September 2017.
During these official inspections, the government often shuts factories down by cutting their electricity and gas supply, sometimes for two weeks or longer, until they can assess compliance. Factories found to be violating environmental law in China may be closed permanently. You, the customer, may be left without your goods and with little or no recourse.
InTouch helps importers avoid working with suppliers that are violating environmental protection laws and at risk of being closed unexpectedly.
We can investigate your supplier by visiting their facility and assessing their level of compliance. You’ll receive a detailed report with our findings following the audit, including any violations found and an overall rating of compliance.
You can incorporate a China environmental protection audit into your sourcing process when looking for a suitable supplier. Or you might audit an existing supplier to help manage your risk of disruption due to violations.
An audit to assess compliance with Chinese environmental protection laws differs from a certified ISO 14001 audit of environmental management systems (EMS). But it does cover many of the same areas and others, including:
InTouch bills China environmental protection audits by man-days—you’ll generally need more man-days to audit larger factories. We also bill any expenses related to our auditors traveling to and from your supplier’s factory. So the final cost you pay will also depend on the factory address.
If you’re ready to talk with an expert about performing an environmental audit at your Chinese supplier’s factory, click the button below to contact us.
You guys are quite efficient in making sure that you are in constant communication with our vendors to set up a time and day to have inspections handled... InTouch definitely pushed to make sure that inspections would be done in a timely manner. Any corrective actions that had to take place were executed well before the exit factory date.
Ron Eclarinal
Director of Production, Betabrand
Since InTouch does a more detailed inspection than what we had depended on with the factories, the quality of the products has improved. Where before when we might find 25 AQL defects, now it's down to three or four,because the factory knows that we want that cut back and InTouch is going to find it.
Deb Choate
Administrative Assistant, Linstol
InTouch’s auditing reduced the level of risk, whether known or unknown, to our company. From the audit findings provided by InTouch, we were much more equipped to make the correct business decision with regard to an acceptable level of risk. The InTouch audit secured our decision making process.
Jerry Davis
Vice President of Purchasing, MJS Packaging
One of our customers had been through multiple suppliers year after year and had been let down with returns and rejections. With InTouch as our eyes and ears on the ground, we retained that business for 5 years without one single rejection or complaint.
Nick Rivera
Director of Operations, MMI Textiles
The speed that we get the reports is always good. We had an experience with some other inspectors where we had to wait an extra day to get the reports. Getting the report as soon as we can is very important, so we can make a decision and give feedback back to the factory.
Denis O'Mahony
Operations and Engineering Manager, Juku Gear
From beginning to end, InTouch is so easy to work with. The inspection report is literally there the next morning when I come into work. It really makes my job easier.
Nicole Thoma
Inside Sales Specialist, MJS Packaging
