Shanghai lawyer Yan Yiming has failed to receive from the National Development and Reform Commission the reply to his request for information, which, as a Chinese citizen, he is legally entitled to.

The lawyer filed an application to China's top economic planner on March 26, requesting information on its decision to lift a decade-long ban on the use of disposable foam plastic tableware. According to the laws and regulations on government information disclosure, he should have been given a detailed reply before last Thursday.

Yan's request is what the public has been calling for since the NDRC issued a document on Feb 26, removing disposable foam plastic tableware from the list of products that should be eliminated, a move that means such tableware will return to the market for use after disappearing for more than a decade. The ban on its production and use was formally lifted on May 1.