The Dilemma, Root Causes, and Adaptation of the "One-Size-Fits-All" Approach: A Study on the Governance Efficacy of the Packaging National Standard (GB 23350-2021) from a Cost Constraint Perspective

DOI: https://doi.org/10.62517/jel.202614407

Author(s)

Shuhan Ge

Affiliation(s)

Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, City University of Macau, Macao, China

Abstract

The implementation of the mandatory national standard GB 23350-2021 marks a new stage in China’s governance of excessive commodity packaging. However, a significant tension has arisen between its "one-size-fits-all" regulatory model and the functional diversity of commodity packaging, leading to multiple practical dilemmas such as compliance at the expense of quality, compliance leading to disenchantment, and compliance through circumvention. Existing research primarily describes this tension from technical, legal, or ethical dimensions, lacking a realistic consideration of governance costs and efficiency from the perspective of public policy implementers (regulators). This paper constructs a "regulation–adaptation under cost constraints"​ analytical framework to systematically analyze the deep-seated roots of the aforementioned dilemmas. These roots lie in: (1) the fundamental contradiction between the standardized thinking that pursues management convenience(to reduce regulatory enforcement costs) and the high institutional design costs necessary to address market complexity; and (2) the problem of centralized state governance costs and diminishing efficacy resulting from over-reliance on "command-and-control" instruments. Through conceptual analysis and typical case discussion (tea, mooncakes), this paper proposes that the key to resolving the dilemma lies in promoting a shift in the governance paradigm from threshold controlto function-based agile governance. The core pathway is to construct a composite toolkit​ coordinated by the state, market, and society: the state reduces coordination and accountability costs through legislation and framework standards; market incentive mechanisms (e.g., differentiated environmental taxes) are introduced to internalize part of the supervision costs and incentivize source reduction; industry organizations are authorized to formulate detailed rules to leverage their information cost advantages; and social supervision is activated to decentralize enforcement costs. This study provides a reference that balances theoretical depth and practicality for enhancing the responsiveness and efficacy of the packaging governance system while controlling overall governance costs.

Keywords

Excessive Packaging; GB 23350-2021; Governance Costs; Collaborative Governance; Regulation–Adaptation Framework

References

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