China Issues Printing & Reproduction Enforcement Reporting Rules: Two-Month Filing Cycle, Two-Day Notice for Major Cases

Article 1. These Measures exist to turn administrative enforcement responsibility in printing and reproduction into everyday practice, to sharpen routine supervision of the sector, to put a lasting management mechanism in place and to support the national goal of building a strong printing and reproduction country. They rest on the Regulations on the Administration of the Printing Industry, the Regulations on the Administration of Audio-Visual Products and the Measures for the Administration of Reproduction.

Article 2. In these Measures, administrative law enforcement in printing and reproduction means the administrative actions taken by press and publication departments at every level and by comprehensive administrative law enforcement departments for the cultural market, each within its own remit, to inspect printing or reproduction business operations and to impose administrative penalties.

Article 3. The General Administration of Press and Publication (GAPP) guides printing and reproduction enforcement work nationwide, and is the body that establishes and operates a national reporting and evaluation system for that work.

Article 4. Under this system, the press and publication departments and the comprehensive administrative law enforcement departments for the cultural market of each province, autonomous region and municipality directly under the Central Government report on enforcement activity within their own area to GAPP, which then assesses how enforcement is being carried out locally.

Routine inspections and the penalties imposed are consolidated and filed once every two months, while a major printing or reproduction case must be reported with basic details within two working days of being formally opened.

Article 5. When filing routine inspection and penalty data, those provincial-level departments must work through every field of the Summary Table on Administrative Inspection and Administrative Penalty Work in Printing and Reproduction that falls within their own remit. They verify and consolidate the number of inspection personnel, the inspection methods, content and findings, along with administrative handling and penalties, enter the figures clearly, and submit the table covering the previous two months within the working days stipulated at the start of each odd-numbered month.

Fields inside a department's own remit that carry no data are entered as zero; fields outside that remit are left unfilled.

Article 6. Major cases are filed on the Major Printing and Reproduction Case Report Form (see Appendix 2), which must reach GAPP within two working days of the case being opened.

A major printing or reproduction case, as these Measures define it, is one that causes grave harm to the state or society, involves serious illegal business conduct, an exceptionally large illegal turnover, or a large number of regions or enterprises. A case is classified as major if any one of the following applies:

(1) it is pursued on instructions from leading officials of the CPC Central Committee, the State Council or other central leadership bodies;

(2) it breaches Article 3 of the Regulations on the Administration of the Printing Industry or Article 3 of the Regulations on the Administration of Audio-Visual Products and could produce serious social impact or serious harm to national interests;

(3) the printing or reproduction business licence may lawfully be revoked;

(4) illegal turnover reaches 30,000 yuan or more;

(5) three or more provinces, or five or more printing and reproduction enterprises, are involved;

(6) violence or coercion is used to obstruct enforcement, causing injury or death among enforcement officers or other serious social consequences;

(7) the case otherwise seriously disrupts the administrative order of the printing and reproduction market.

Article 7. GAPP tracks and guides the inspection and penalty work carried out by those provincial-level departments, and coordinates the relevant authorities in pressing forward the handling of key major cases.

Article 8. Drawing on the inspection and penalty reports filed from each area, and after verification and follow-up checks, GAPP evaluates how local enforcement work in printing and reproduction is performing.

Article 9. Evaluation follows the principles of fairness, transparency and practical effect, and centres on:

(1) supervision and inspection, including how frequently checks are made and the methods, content and priorities used;

(2) administrative penalties, including the number of penalty cases and the use of fines, suspension of business for rectification and licence revocation;

(3) the enforcement teams, including staffing, funding arrangements, training and assessment;

(4) market order in printing and reproduction, including conditions in priority regions and the state of publication printing and read-only optical disc reproduction;

(5) enforcement reporting, including the Summary Table on Administrative Inspection and Administrative Penalty Work in Printing and Reproduction, the Major Printing and Reproduction Case Report Form, and other feedback on enforcement.

Article 10. Evaluation proceeds through three steps: local self-assessment, examination and verification, and public announcement.

In the self-assessment step, the provincial-level departments review their own enforcement work for the year and submit a summary evaluation report.

In the examination and verification step, GAPP reviews those summary evaluation reports, weighs the views of associations and other industry organisations, and settles the evaluation result.

The result is then released publicly after a seven-working-day notice period.

Article 11. Evaluation results fall into three categories, among them qualified and unqualified.

Where the Summary Table, the Major Case Report Form or the annual summary evaluation report is not filed as these Measures require, the result is unqualified.

Article 12. Evaluation is carried out once a year, with results in principle published before the end of that year. Copies go to the people's government and the Party committee publicity department of each province, autonomous region and municipality directly under the Central Government.

Article 13. GAPP commends units rated at the designated level in the evaluation, as well as other units and individuals whose enforcement work in printing and reproduction has been outstanding.

Article 14. Serious falsification or major disciplinary violations in operating this reporting and evaluation system bring a notice of criticism and an unqualified result.

(Source: General Administration of Press and Publication)

— Reposted from China Packaging Network (pack.cn). Original link: http://news.pack.cn/show-362149.html