Explanation of the Draft Standardisation Law of the People's Republic of China (Solicitation of Opinions)
 

I. Necessity of Revision

The Standardisation Law of the People's Republic of China (hereinafter referred to as the current law), implemented in 1989, played an important role in establishing China's standardisation legal system, improving product quality, and promoting economic and social development. With the development of China's national economy and social undertakings, the standard system and management measures established by the current law can no longer fully meet the actual needs: Firstly, the scope of standards is too narrow, mainly limited to industrial products, engineering construction, and environmental protection requirements. Secondly, the entities responsible for formulating mandatory standards are scattered, and problems of overlapping and repetition are prominent. Thirdly, the government dominates the formulation of too many standards, and there are few standards formulated independently by market entities such as groups and enterprises that quickly reflect market demand, leading to insufficient effective supply of standards. Fourthly, there is a lack of specific measures to supervise standard formulation, implementation, evaluation, and standardisation work, which is not conducive to strengthening supervision during and after the fact.
The Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the State Council attach great importance to standardisation reform work. The Deepening Reform Plan for Standardisation (Guo Fa [2015] No. 13, hereinafter referred to as the Reform Plan) clearly requires "accelerating the revision of the Standardisation Law of the People's Republic of China to ensure that reforms are legally sound".
According to the requirements of the Reform Plan, the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine drafted the Amendment to the Standardisation Law of the People's Republic of China (Submission Draft) (hereinafter referred to as the Submission Draft) in July 2015 and submitted it to the State Council. After receiving this document, the Legislative Affairs Office solicited opinions from relevant departments, local people's governments, and industry associations, conducted field research in local areas, and jointly with the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine, repeatedly studied and revised the Submission Draft, forming the Draft Standardisation Law of the People's Republic of China (Solicitation of Opinions) (hereinafter referred to as the Solicitation of Opinions Draft).
II. Overall Approach
Firstly, adhere to a problem-oriented approach, focusing on solving prominent problems in standardisation work, optimising the structure of the current standard system, streamlining the standard management system, and better playing the fundamental and strategic role of standardisation in promoting sustained economic development and comprehensive social progress. Secondly, adhere to the principles of delegating power and encouraging technological innovation, giving full play to the important role of market entities in standard formulation and implementation, jointly promoting standardisation work by the government, departments and market entities, and actively cultivating and promoting the development of group standards. Thirdly, expand the scope of standard formulation according to the needs of social management and public services. Fourthly, clarify the responsibilities of departmental supervision, establish inter-departmental coordination mechanisms, improve supervision measures, and strengthen the supervision of standardisation work during and after the fact.
III. Main Content of the Solicitation of Opinions Draft
(I) Expanding the scope of standards. According to the needs of national economic and social development, the scope of standard formulation is expanded to the agricultural, service and social management fields, and from products to services (Article 2).
(II) Strengthening the unified management of mandatory standards. In response to prominent problems such as multiple levels of mandatory standards, overlapping, repetitive, and even contradictory content, the following provisions are made: Firstly, the scope of mandatory standards is limited to technical and management requirements that need to be unified to guarantee personal health and life safety, national security, ecological environmental safety, and to meet the basic requirements of social and economic management (Article 9, paragraph 1). Secondly, it clearly stipulates that mandatory national standards are uniformly managed by the competent State Council administrative department for standardisation, which is responsible for project approval, numbering, publication, and external announcements; relevant administrative departments of the State Council are responsible for proposing, drafting, soliciting opinions, technical review, implementing, and supervising mandatory national standards according to their responsibilities; Provincial, autonomous regional, and municipal people's governments can also propose project suggestions for mandatory national standards to the competent State Council administrative department for standardisation (Article 9, paragraphs 2 and 3). At the same time, it stipulates that mandatory national standards should be made publicly available free of charge, and a statistical analysis report system for the implementation of mandatory standards should be established (Article 9, paragraph 5; Article 22).
(III) Optimising the recommended standard system. The Solicitation of Opinions Draft clarifies that industry standards and local standards are recommended standards (Article 11, paragraph 1; Article 12, paragraph 1). At the same time, to meet the actual needs of localities, the Solicitation of Opinions Draft stipulates that in addition to the standardisation administrative departments of provincial, autonomous regional, and municipal people's governments having the power to formulate local standards, the standardisation administrative departments of city people's governments at the prefecture level and above, according to the special needs of their administrative regions, may formulate local standards within their administrative regions with the approval of the standardisation administrative departments of the provincial, autonomous regional people's governments (Article 12, paragraph 2).
(IV) Introducing group standards and improving relevant provisions on enterprise standards. To promote scientific and technological progress and improve the competitiveness of products and services, the Solicitation of Opinions Draft: Firstly, clarifies the legal status of group standards, stipulating that legally established social groups may formulate group standards for voluntary adoption by society (Article 13, paragraph 1). Secondly, considering that group standards are still in the pilot stage, the management methods for group standards are to be formulated by the competent State Council administrative department for standardisation (Article 13, paragraph 2). Thirdly, encourages enterprises to formulate enterprise standards that are stricter than national standards, industry standards, or local standards (Article 14). Fourthly, establishes a system for self-declaration and public disclosure of enterprise product or service standards, replacing the requirement for filing of enterprise product standards (Article 24).
(V) Improving the principles, procedures, and other requirements for formulating standards. The Solicitation of Opinions Draft: Firstly, clearly stipulates that for standard items urgently needed for national economic and social development, the competent State Council administrative department for standardisation or relevant administrative departments of the State Council should give priority to project approval and ensure that they are completed regularly (Article 15). Secondly, stipulates that the formulation of standards should comply with requirements conducive to the rational use of national resources, and should not contain content that harms personal health or life, property safety, etc. (Articles 16 and 17). Thirdly, highlights the role of standardisation technical committees in standard formulation and stipulates that the formulation of standards should widely solicit opinions from enterprises, research institutions, consumers, and social groups (Articles 18 and 19). Fourthly, establishes a system for tracking and evaluating the implementation of standards, and uses the evaluation results as a basis for revising or abolishing standards (Article 22).
(VI) Clarifying the responsibilities of supervisory departments and granting necessary supervisory means. Firstly, the State Council establishes a coordination and promotion mechanism for standardisation to coordinate major issues in national standardisation work. Local people's governments at or above the county level may establish a coordination and promotion mechanism for standardisation according to work needs to coordinate major issues in standardisation work within their administrative regions (Article 5). Secondly, it clearly stipulates that the standardisation administrative departments and relevant administrative departments of the people's governments at or above the county level supervise and inspect standardisation work in accordance with their statutory duties, and the implementation of mandatory national standards is a key focus of supervision and inspection (Article 31, paragraph 1). Thirdly, clarifies the supervisory responsibilities of the State Council's competent department for standardisation (Articles 32 and 33). Fourthly, establishes a standard dispute coordination mechanism to coordinate and handle problems in standard formulation and implementation (Article 34).
In addition, the Solicitation of Opinions Draft also stipulates that the State encourages all levels of people's governments to use standards to implement economic regulation, market access, administrative supervision, and public service provision, cultivate and develop the standardisation service industry, and supplement and improve the corresponding legal liabilities for relevant violations of standardisation laws (Articles 28, 30, 36 to 40).
 
Legislative Affairs Office of the State Council
March 22, 2016
 
 
Standardisation Law of the People's Republic of China (Draft for Solicitation of Opinions)
 
Chapter 1 General Provisions
Article 1 This Law is formulated to strengthen standardisation work, ensure product and service quality, promote industrial transformation and upgrading, and improve the level of economic and social development.
Article 2 The term "standard" (including standard samples) as used in this Law refers to unified technical and management requirements in the fields of agriculture, industry, services and social undertakings.
Article 3 People's governments at or above the county level shall include standardisation work in their national economic and social development plans and include standardisation work funds in their fiscal budgets.
The term "standardisation work" as used in this Law refers to the activities of formulating standards, organising the implementation of standards, and supervising the implementation of standards.
Article 4 The State Council's administrative department in charge of standardization shall uniformly manage the standardization work nationwide. Relevant administrative departments under the State Council shall be responsible for the standardization work within their respective departments and industries.
The standardization administrative departments of the people's governments of provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities directly under the Central Government shall uniformly manage the standardization work within their respective administrative regions. Relevant administrative departments under the people's governments of provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities directly under the Central Government shall be responsible for the standardization work within their respective departments and industries in their administrative regions.
The standardization administrative departments and relevant administrative departments of the municipal and county people's governments shall manage the standardization work within their respective administrative regions in accordance with their respective responsibilities as stipulated by the people's governments of provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities directly under the Central Government.
Article 5 The State Council shall establish a standardization coordination and promotion mechanism to coordinate major matters concerning national standardization work. Local people's governments at or above the county level may establish a standardization coordination and promotion mechanism as needed to coordinate major matters concerning standardization work within their respective administrative regions.
Article 6 The state encourages active participation in international standardization activities, including the development, adoption, and promotion of international standards; encourages the development of international cooperation and exchanges in standardization, and promotes the conversion and application of Chinese standards and foreign standards.
Article 7 People's governments at all levels and relevant administrative departments shall, in accordance with relevant national regulations, commend and reward organizations and individuals who have made outstanding achievements in standardization work.
Chapter 2 Development of Standards
Article 8 National standards shall be developed for technical and management requirements that need to be unified nationwide. National standards are divided into mandatory standards and recommended standards.
Article 9 Mandatory national standards shall be developed for unified technical and management requirements necessary to ensure personal health and safety of life and property, national security, ecological and environmental security, and to meet the basic requirements of socio-economic management.
The State Council's administrative department in charge of standardization shall uniformly manage mandatory national standards, be responsible for the project approval, numbering, and publication of mandatory national standards, and conduct external reporting.
Relevant administrative departments under the State Council shall be responsible for project proposals, drafting, soliciting opinions, technical review, implementation, and supervision of mandatory national standards based on their responsibilities. The people's governments of provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities directly under the Central Government may submit project proposals for mandatory national standards to the State Council's administrative department in charge of standardization, which shall make the final decision.
If laws and administrative regulations have other provisions on the development of mandatory standards, those provisions shall prevail.
Mandatory national standards shall be made publicly available to the public free of charge.
Article 10 Recommended national standards shall be developed by the State Council's administrative department in charge of standardization.
Article 11 Industry standards may be developed for technical and management requirements that do not have national standards and need to be unified within a specific industry nationwide. Industry standards are recommended standards.
Industry standards shall be developed by the relevant administrative departments under the State Council and filed with the State Council's administrative department in charge of standardization. After the publication of national standards, the relevant industry standards shall be automatically repealed.
Article 12 Local standards may be developed for technical and management requirements that do not have national standards or industry standards and need to be unified within a specific administrative region. Local standards are recommended standards.
Local standards shall be developed by the standardization administrative departments of the people's governments of provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities directly under the Central Government; the standardization administrative departments of the municipal people's governments with districts may, based on the special needs of their administrative regions and with the approval of the standardization administrative departments of the people's governments of the provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities directly under the Central Government, develop local standards for their municipalities. Local standards shall be filed with the State Council's administrative department in charge of standardization and relevant administrative departments under the State Council by the standardization administrative departments of the people's governments of provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities directly under the Central Government. After the publication of national standards or industry standards, the relevant local standards shall be automatically repealed.
Article 13 Legally established social organizations may develop group standards for voluntary adoption by society. The development of group standards shall be regulated, guided, and supervised by the State Council's administrative department in charge of standardization.
The administrative measures for group standards shall be formulated by the State Council's administrative department in charge of standardization.
Article 14 The state encourages enterprises to develop enterprise standards that are stricter than national standards, industry standards, or local standards. Enterprises and inter-enterprise alliances may develop enterprise standards as needed.
Enterprises that produce products without national standards, industry standards, local standards, or group standards shall develop enterprise standards as the basis for organizing production.
Article 15 The State Council's administrative department in charge of standardization or relevant administrative departments under the State Council shall give priority to project approval for standards urgently needed for national economic and social development, and expedite the organization of drafting, soliciting opinions, and technical review to ensure timely completion.
Article 16 The development of standards shall meet the following requirements:
(1) Conducive to the rational utilization of national resources;
(2) Conducive to the promotion of scientific and technological achievements;
(3) Conducive to improving economic efficiency;
(4) Conducive to product interchangeability;
(5) Conducive to promoting international economic and technological cooperation and foreign trade.
Article 17 The following content shall not be included in the development of standards:
(1) Harmful to personal health or safety of life and property;
(2) Infringing on the legitimate rights and interests of consumers;
(3) Disrupting market order and hindering fair competition;
(4) Endangering national security, public security, economic security, or ecological security.
It is prohibited to use standards to engage in illegal activities such as industry barriers, regional blockades, and unfair competition.
Article 18 The development of standards shall leverage the role of enterprises, research institutions, consumers, and social organizations, and widely solicit opinions.
Article 19 The administrative departments responsible for developing recommended national standards, industry standards, and local standards shall organize standardization technical committees composed of relevant parties to be responsible for the drafting and technical review of recommended standards.
The drafting and technical review of mandatory national standards may be entrusted to standardization technical committees.
The composition of standardization technical committees shall be broadly representative.
Article 20 The rules for the codes and numbers of national standards, industry standards, local standards, group standards, and enterprise standards shall be stipulated by the State Council's administrative department in charge of standardization.
Article 21 The administrative departments, social organizations, or enterprises responsible for developing standards shall be responsible for interpreting the standards.
For standards protected by copyright law, the copyright shall be enjoyed by the administrative departments, social organizations, or enterprises that developed the standards.
Article 22 The administrative departments, social organizations, and enterprises responsible for developing standards shall regularly review the standards and, in accordance with the progress of science and technology and the needs of economic and social development, promptly carry out the revision and repeal of standards.
The administrative departments, social organizations, and enterprises responsible for formulating standards should track and evaluate the implementation of the standards they formulate; the evaluation results should serve as the basis for revising or abolishing standards. For the tracking and evaluation of the implementation of mandatory standards, the state will establish a statistical analysis reporting system.
Chapter 3 Implementation of Standards
Article 23 Mandatory standards must be implemented. Products and services that do not meet mandatory standards are prohibited from being produced, sold, imported, or provided.
Recommended standards are for voluntary adoption.
Article 24 The state implements a system of public disclosure of self-declarations of enterprise product or service standards.
The product standards implemented by enterprises should be publicly disclosed to the public through the public service platform for enterprise standard information; enterprises are encouraged to publicly disclose the service standards they implement.
Enterprises that publicly disclose their self-formulated product or service standards should include the functional indicators of products and services, performance indicators of products, and corresponding testing methods.
Enterprises that publicly disclose the national standards, industry standards, local standards, or group standards they implement should include the code, number, and name of the standards.
Products produced and services provided by enterprises should meet the requirements of publicly disclosed standards.
Article 25 The technical requirements for export products and services shall be implemented in accordance with the provisions of the contract.
Article 26 Enterprises developing new products, improving products, and undertaking technological transformation should comply with the standardization requirements stipulated in these regulations.
Article 27 The state encourages certification and accreditation based on the standards stipulated in these regulations. Certification and accreditation should comply with the provisions of relevant laws and administrative regulations on certification and accreditation.
Article 28 The state encourages governments at all levels to use standards to implement economic regulation, market access, administrative supervision, and provide public services.
Article 29 Governments at all levels should support the development of pilot demonstration projects for standardization, disseminate the concept of standardization, promote standardization experience, and promote the use of standardization methods for production, operation, management, and service throughout society.
Article 30 The state encourages social organizations, enterprises, research institutions, universities, and secondary vocational schools to carry out and promote standardization work, provide standardization information consulting, technical guidance, publicity training, and talent cultivation services, and cultivate and develop the standardization service industry.
Chapter 4 Supervision of Standardization Work
Article 31 Standardization administrative departments and relevant administrative departments of the people's governments at or above the county level shall conduct supervision and inspection of standardization work in accordance with their statutory responsibilities; the implementation of mandatory national standards should be the focus of supervision and inspection.
Administrative departments implementing supervision and inspection have the right to take administrative enforcement measures based on laws and administrative regulations.
Article 32 If the State Council's standardization administrative department finds that a relevant administrative department of the State Council has not completed the drafting and technical review of mandatory national standards on time, it should require the relevant administrative department of the State Council to explain the situation and complete it within a time limit.
Article 33 If the State Council's standardization administrative department finds that industry standards, local standards, group standards, or enterprise standards have any of the following circumstances, it should request the relevant administrative department of the State Council or the standardization administrative department of the people's government of a province, autonomous region, or municipality directly under the Central Government, social organizations, or enterprises to explain the situation and correct it within a time limit; if it is not corrected within the time limit, the State Council's standardization administrative department shall announce its abolition:
(1) The code or number does not comply with the regulations;
(2) It has not been filed as required;
(3) It has not been reviewed as required.
Article 34 The standardization administrative departments at all levels should establish a mechanism for coordinating standard disputes. Relevant administrative departments may establish a mechanism for coordinating standard disputes according to work needs to coordinate and handle standard issues reflected by society.
Article 35 Standardization administrative departments and relevant administrative departments of the people's governments at or above the county level may, according to work needs, entrust inspection and testing institutions to conduct inspections and tests on whether products meet standards. Inspection and testing institutions should have basic inspection and testing conditions and technical capabilities and have legal qualifications.
Chapter 5 Legal Liability
Article 36 For the production, sale, import of products, or provision of services that do not meet mandatory national standards, the administrative departments stipulated by laws and administrative regulations shall handle them in accordance with the law; if laws and administrative regulations do not provide for this, the standardization administrative department shall order corrections, issue warnings, confiscate illegal gains, and impose a fine ranging from one to five times the illegal gains; if there are no illegal gains, a fine ranging from 100,000 to 500,000 yuan shall be imposed; in serious cases, the business shall be ordered to suspend operations for rectification; if a crime is constituted, criminal liability shall be investigated according to law.
Article 37 If relevant administrative departments violate the provisions of paragraph 1 of Article 17 of this Law in formulating standards, the State Council's standardization administrative department shall announce the abolition of the relevant standards, and the appointing and dismissing organs and supervisory organs shall impose sanctions on the responsible leaders and directly responsible personnel in accordance with the law.
If social organizations and enterprises violate the provisions of paragraph 1 of Article 17 of this Law in formulating standards, the State Council's standardization administrative department shall announce the abolition of the relevant standards, and the administrative departments stipulated by laws and administrative regulations shall investigate and deal with them in accordance with the law; if laws and administrative regulations do not provide for this, the standardization administrative department shall, according to the circumstances, issue warnings, confiscate illegal gains, and impose a fine ranging from one to five times the illegal gains; if there are no illegal gains, a fine ranging from 100,000 to 500,000 yuan shall be imposed; if a crime is constituted, criminal liability shall be investigated according to law.
For violations of paragraph 2 of Article 17 of this Law, using standards to engage in illegal activities such as industry barriers, regional blockades, and unfair competition shall be dealt with in accordance with relevant laws and administrative regulations.
Article 38 If the products produced and sold by an enterprise and the services it provides do not meet the requirements of its publicly disclosed standards, the relevant administrative departments shall impose administrative penalties in accordance with the provisions of laws and administrative regulations; if losses are caused to others, they shall bear corresponding compensation liability in accordance with the law; if a crime is constituted, criminal liability shall be investigated according to law.
If an enterprise fails to publicly disclose its implemented product standards in violation of the provisions of Article 24 of this Law, if the publicly disclosed product standards of the enterprise are inconsistent with the implemented standards, or if the publicly disclosed standards of the enterprise are fabricated, the standardization administrative department shall order the enterprise to make corrections within a time limit and publicly announce it on the public service platform for enterprise standard information; if it fails to make corrections within the time limit, a fine ranging from 10,000 to 100,000 yuan shall be imposed.
Article 39 If group standards formulated by social organizations violate laws, administrative regulations, or mandatory standards, the State Council's standardization administrative department shall order corrections within a time limit and impose a fine ranging from 10,000 to 100,000 yuan; if it fails to make corrections within the time limit, the State Council's standardization administrative department shall announce the abolition of the group standard and report the relevant situation to the social organization registration and management department.
Article 40 Supervision, inspection, and testing, and management personnel in standardization work who abuse their power, neglect their duties, or engage in malfeasance shall be given sanctions in accordance with the law; if a crime is constituted, criminal liability shall be investigated according to law.
Chapter 6 Supplementary Provisions
Article 41 The implementation regulations of this Law shall be formulated by the State Council.
Article 42 This law shall come into effect on April 1, 1989.