Industries in China has been experiencing rounds of rigorous environmental protection inspections in recent years - a virtual “tidal wave” of enforcement. A number of enterprises and chemical plants have been subject to production cuts or even shutdowns due to non-compliance or violations of environmental issues, including manufacturers and suppliers of a number of companies based in North America and Europe. The global supply of products is at stake as well as the safety of the global supply chain. Enterprises traditionally conduct EHS compliance audits of their manufacturing and supplier sites so as to avoid compliance risks and ensure normal production and operation. However, with the frequently updated environmental protection policies and regulations in China, it seems that the traditional audit models do not function well enough for the penalized enterprises.
We examine the major EHS regulatory requirements in China, feature the recommended practices of EHS compliance audit for enterprises to maintain compliance, review challenges presented by supply chain disruptions, and discuss how downstream users in North America could effectively deal with and avoid supply chain disruptions occurring in China.
