China Rolls Out Nationwide Reporting and Evaluation Rules for Printing & Reproduction Enforcement

Newly issued measures are designed to lock accountability into administrative law enforcement across China's printing and reproduction sector, sharpen routine supervision of the industry, embed a long-lasting management mechanism and support the national ambition of becoming a printing and reproduction powerhouse. They were drafted on the basis of 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.

As defined by the measures, administrative law enforcement in printing and reproduction covers the supervisory inspections and administrative penalties that press and publication departments at every level, along with comprehensive administrative law enforcement departments for the cultural market, carry out on printing and reproduction business activities within the scope of their own duties.

The General Administration of Press and Publication is charged with guiding enforcement work nationwide and with establishing and operating a national reporting and evaluation system for administrative law enforcement in printing and reproduction.

That system works on a report-and-review basis: press and publication departments of all provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the Central Government, together with cultural-market comprehensive enforcement departments, report on enforcement within their own administrative areas to the General Administration, which in turn evaluates how enforcement is being carried out locally. Routine administrative inspections and administrative penalties are consolidated and submitted once every two months, while major printing and reproduction cases require basic information to be filed within two working days of the case being opened.

When reporting routine inspections and penalties, each department must work from its own duties and check every item in the Summary Table of Administrative Inspections and Administrative Penalties for Printing and Reproduction (Appendix 1), verifying and compiling figures such as the number of inspectors, inspection methods, inspection content, administrative handling and administrative penalties, and entering the data clearly. Submissions covering the preceding two months are due on the first working day of each odd-numbered month. Where a field falls within a department's remit but no data exist, "0" must be entered; fields outside its remit may be left blank.

Major cases are reported on the Report Form for Major Printing and Reproduction Cases (Appendix 2), which must be submitted within two working days of the case being opened. The measures treat as major any case that causes serious harm to the state and society, involves grave circumstances of illegal business operation, involves a very large illegal turnover, or touches a comparatively large number of regions or enterprises. Seven scenarios qualify: cases assigned for investigation following instructions from leading officials of the CPC Central Committee, the State Council and other relevant bodies; cases violating Article 3 of the Regulations on the Administration of the Printing Industry and Article 3 of the Regulations on the Administration of Audio-Visual Products that may cause serious social impact or seriously harm national interests; cases in which the printing and reproduction business licence may lawfully be revoked; cases involving illegal turnover of 30,000 yuan or more; cases spanning three or more provinces or involving five or more printing and reproduction enterprises; cases where violence or coercion obstructs enforcement and causes casualties among enforcement personnel or other adverse social impact; and other cases that seriously disrupt order in the printing and reproduction market.

The General Administration of Press and Publication tracks and guides the inspection and penalty work carried out by provincial-level press and publication departments and cultural-market comprehensive enforcement departments, and coordinates with relevant authorities to supervise the handling of key major cases.

Drawing on the reports submitted by local authorities and on verification and supervision, the General Administration of Press and Publication evaluates the administrative enforcement work on printing and reproduction in each locality. (Source: China Packaging Network, pack.cn — http://news.pack.cn/show-362138.html)