Insurance Regulatory Commission to Establish Indemnity Standards for Environmental Pollution with Environmental Protection Department

The regular news conference of the China Insurance Regulatory Commission for the second quarter of 2009 was held in the news issue hall, CIRC Room 308 on July 31.

As to liability insurance for environmental pollution, Yuan LI, CIRC news spokesman, said that the Commission will continue to work with the Ministry of Environmental Protection to establish standards for the indemnity of environmental pollution, improve laws and regulations on liability insurance for environmental pollution, and perfect the liability insurance sharing mechanisms for environmental pollution.

According to Yuan, since 2009, the commission has been making efforts to promote pilot work for liability insurance for environmental pollution. First, it supervised the insurance regulatory offices and environmental protection departments in regions such as Chongqing and Kunming in the formulation of pilot programs for liability insurance for environmental pollution. Second, it actively promoted work in eight pilot provinces and cities, including Jiangsu, Chongqing, Hu’nan, Hubei, He’nan, Ningbo, Shenyang and Shenzhen. Liability insurance for environmental pollution has been promoted in six major fields, including enterprises prone to pollution accidents, enterprises storing and transporting hazardous chemicals, enterprises dealing with dangerous wastes, refuse landfills, sewage treatment works, and industrial parks. Thirdly, it instructed insurance companies to develop and improve environmental pollution insurance products and offer products that can continue to meet demands.

Yuan disclosed that in its next move the Commission would continue to work with the Ministry of Environmental Protection to establish the measures of indemnity, promote and improve the laws and regulations on liability insurance for environmental pollution. To perfect the liability insurance specifically lies in sharing mechanism. “Next, according to the situations in various regions and the demands for environmental pollution insurances, we will launch the products more suitable for the business so that the demands from enterprises and society can be met. “said Yu. (Source: www.china.com.cn )