|
BIZCHINA / Review & Analysis |
Polluters should face higher discharge fees(Xinhua)
Updated: 2007-08-06 17:42 China's current environmental taxes and fees are not high enough to control pollution, said Chang Jiwen, an expert with a government think tank. "The taxes and fees on the environment are insufficient to rein in the use of fossil fuel," said Chang, a research fellow at the law institute of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. Without an effective tax system, pollution monitoring authorities tend to charge random "pollution fees," usually "a small amount" compared with the lucrative earnings of major polluters, Chang said. He said the current tax is not in line with the international practice in controlling greenhouse gases. A standardized environment tax should be produced to promote the use of environmentally friendly resources and discourage the manufacture, import and distribution of unsustainable products, he said. A new tax "green tax" is expected to be more effective in handling environmental charges. It will mainly tax discharges of sewage and sulfur dioxide, according to Wang Fengnian, an associate professor at Beijing-based Tsinghua University. Pan Yue, vice director of the State Environmental Protection Administration, said a new taxation category to protect the environment is taking shape in China. China will soon issue an environmentally friendly loan policy, asking banks and other financial institutions to grant loans only to companies that have passed environmental assessments and implemented environmental protection regulations, Pan said earlier. |
|