Standardization Law of the People’s Republic of China will be modified greatly

Date:2016-06-21 Click:

      On Mar.22, 2016, Legal Affairs Office of the State Council asked for opinions from the general public for Standardization Law of the People’s Republic of China (Revised draft bill). This opinion consultation is for fully understanding opinions and advices from the society, and improving the quality of legislation, the deadline is Apr. 21.

     According to official website of Legal Affairs Office of the State Council, this exposure draft is drafted by Legal Affairs Office of the State Council, it is Bill of Amendment of Standardization Law of the People’s Republic of China (examination draft). It is formed after consulting the opinion from relevant department, local People’s government and industry association, researching at local place, and being researched and revised by AQSIQ and National Standard Commission according to advice feedback and research situation.

      Current Standardization Law  has been issued and implemented for 27 years, the modification is needed urgently. Overall thinking on modifying Standardization Law this time include: first, insisting on problem oriented, sparing no effort to solve  the prominent problems existed in standardization work, optimizing the current standardization system architecture, straightening out standardization management system, exerting the fundamentality and strategic function of standardization on the aspect of promoting economy’s sustainable development and society’s overall progress. Second, insisting on streamline administration and delegate power, encouraging scientific creation, fully exerting the important role of the market on making and implementing the standard, pushing standardization work through the joint effort among the government, department and the market, actively cultivating and pushing forward standardization development of the group. Third, according to the requirement of social management and public service, enlarging the scope of standard setting. Four, clarifying the department’s supervision responsibility, building up coordination mechanism among departments, perfecting the supervision measures, reinforcing supervision during the event and after the event for standardization work.

      As far as we know, the main content of exposure draft include, first, the scope of standardization has been enlarged, extending to the fields of agriculture, service industry and social management, from products to service. Second, reinforcing the unified management of mandatory standard. The scope of mandatory standard is limited to the technical and management requirement that need to be unified, the requirement is for guaranteeing the safety of human health and life and property, state security, entironment safety and satisfying the basic requirement of social and economic administration. Mandatory national standard has been explicitly stipulated that standardization administrative department in charge of the State Council is responsible for the administration job, it has the responsibility to set up the project, number, publish and notify the general information; relevant administrative department in charge of the State Council is responsible for setting up, organizing and drawing up, consulting, examining, implementing and supervising the project of mandatory national standard; provincial, municipality, municipal People’s government can put forward project approval advice of mandatory national standard to standardization administrative department in charge of the State Council as well. Meanwhile, mandatory national standard has been stipulated to be made public to the society free of charge, and mandatory standard implementation statistic analysis reporting system must be established. Third, optimizing recommended standardization system. Exposure draft explicit that industrial standard and local standard belong to recommended standard. At the same time, it is stipulated that other than standardization administrative department in charge of provincial, municipality, municipal People’s government, standardization administrative department in charge of municipal people’s government with districts also has the right to make local standard of their own administrative district after getting approval from standardization administrative department in charge of provincial, municipality people’s government according to the special need of their own administrative district. Four, introducing group norms, perfecting the relevant stipulation of enterprise standard. Exposure draft explicit the legal status of group standard, stipulating that legal social group can make the group standard, adopted by the society voluntarily, group standard management method is made by standardization administrative department in charge of the State Council; encouraging the enterprise to make the enterprise standard, which is more strict than national standard or industrial standard, local standard; establishing self-statement disclosure system for enterprise product or service standard, replacing standard filing requirement of enterprise products. Fifth, perfecting the principal, procedure of making standard. Exposure draft explicit that the standardization project should be set up first for national economy and social development, ensuring the completion on time; making standard should conform to the requirement that is in favor of using national resources rationally, the content that damage human health or life, property security should not exist; highlighting the effect of Technical Committee for Standardization on making standard, when making the standard, listening to the opinion of enterprises, scientific institution, consumers and social group is necessary; establishing standard implementation tracking assessment system, and make assessment result as the basis of standard modification and abolishment. Sixth, clarifying supervision department’s responsibility, giving the necessary supervision method. The State Council establishes standardization coordination promotion system, planning and coordinating major events of national standardization work. Standardization administrative department in charge of local people’s government above the country level, relevant administrative department in charge carries out supervision and examination work for standardization work according to legal responsibility, focusing on the supervision and examination of implementation of mandatory national standard; expliciting the supervision responsibility of standardization department in charge of the State Council; establishing standard dispute coordination mechanism, coordinating and processing the existing problems happened during the standard making and implementing.

      In addition, exposure draft stipulates that China encourages people’s government at all levels apply the standard to implement economic regulation and control, market access, administrative supervision and management and offer public service, cultivate and develope standard service industry, supplementing and perfecting corresponding legal liability aiming at relevant illegal behavior about standardization.