How Printing & Reproduction Enforcement Gets Rated in China: Key Points of the National Reporting and Evaluation Measures

Article 1. These Measures rest on the relevant clauses 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. They exist to turn enforcement accountability in printing and reproduction into practice, tighten day-to-day supervision of the sector, install a durable long-term management mechanism, and push China toward becoming a strong printing and reproduction nation.

Article 2. Administrative enforcement in printing and reproduction, as the term is used here, covers the supervisory inspections and administrative penalties that press and publication administrative departments at every level, together with cultural-market comprehensive enforcement departments, carry out within their own remit against printing or reproduction business activity.

Article 3. Guidance for this enforcement nationwide rests with the General Administration of Press and Publication (GAPP), which is also the body responsible for establishing and running the reporting and evaluation system across the country.

Article 4. The reporting and evaluation system has two sides. Press and publication administrative departments, and cultural-market comprehensive enforcement departments, in each province, autonomous region and municipality directly under the Central Government report their local enforcement activity to GAPP, while GAPP assesses how each locality has performed.

On timing, routine inspections and administrative penalties are consolidated and submitted once every two months, whereas the basic details of a major printing or reproduction case must be reported within two working days of the case being registered.

Article 5. For routine reporting, each of those provincial-level press and publication departments and cultural-market enforcement departments works to its own remit, checking every entry on the Summary Table of Administrative Inspection and Administrative Penalty Work in Printing and Reproduction (Appendix 1). Figures for inspection headcounts, inspection methods, inspection content, administrative handling and penalties are verified, tabulated and entered clearly, and the two-month summary is submitted on the working day at the start of each odd-numbered month.

Entries inside a department's own remit are recorded as zero where no data exists; entries outside that remit are left unfilled.

Article 6. Major cases follow a separate route. The provincial-level press and publication department or cultural-market enforcement department completes the Report Form for Major Printing and Reproduction Cases (Appendix 2) and files it within two working days of the case being registered.

A major printing or reproduction case under these Measures is one that causes grave harm to the state or society, involves serious illegal business conduct, involves an exceptionally large illegal turnover, or spans a comparatively large number of regions or enterprises. Any one of the following brings a case into that category:

(1) a case opened for investigation on the instruction of leading officials of the CPC Central Committee, the State Council or other relevant bodies;

(2) a case breaching 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 that could trigger serious social repercussions or serious damage to national interests;

(3) a case in which the printing or reproduction business licence may lawfully be revoked;

(4) a case involving an illegal turnover of RMB 30,000 or more;

(5) a case spanning three or more provinces, or five or more printing or reproduction enterprises;

(6) a case in which officers are obstructed by violence or coercion, causing injury or death among enforcement personnel or otherwise generating a serious social backlash;

(7) any other case that badly disrupts order in the printing and reproduction market.

Article 7. GAPP tracks and guides the inspection and penalty work carried out by provincial-level press and publication departments and cultural-market enforcement departments, and coordinates with the relevant authorities to oversee how key major cases are handled.

Article 8. Working from the reports those departments file on inspections and penalties, and after verification and supervision, GAPP evaluates each locality's enforcement work.

Article 9. Evaluation follows the principles of fairness, transparency and practical effect, and its main content covers:

(1) supervision and inspection: how often inspections occur, and by what methods, on what content and with what priorities;

(2) administrative penalties: the number of penalty cases, plus fines, suspension of business for rectification and licence revocations;

(3) enforcement teams: staffing establishment, funding in place, and training and assessment;

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

(5) enforcement reporting: submission of the Summary Table of Administrative Inspection and Administrative Penalty Work in Printing and Reproduction and the Report Form of Major Cases in Printing and Reproduction, along with feedback on other enforcement matters.

Article 10. Evaluation runs through three stages: self-assessment by each locality, examination and verification, and public announcement.

Self-assessment means that each provincial-level press and publication department and cultural-market enforcement department reviews the year's enforcement work and submits a summary evaluation report.

Examination and verification means that GAPP reviews those summary reports, weighs the views of associations and other industry organisations, and settles the evaluation results.

Public announcement means that GAPP releases the evaluation results after a public notice period of 7 working days.

Article 11. Evaluation results for printing and reproduction enforcement fall into three categories, with qualified and unqualified among them.

Where the Summary Table of Administrative Inspection and Administrative Penalty Work in Printing and Reproduction, the Report Form of Major Cases in Printing and Reproduction, or the annual summary evaluation report is not submitted as these Measures require, the result is unqualified.

Article 12. Evaluation takes place once a year, and results are in principle made public before the end of that year. Copies are also sent 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 corresponding level in the evaluation, along with other units and individuals whose enforcement work stands out.

Article 14. Serious falsification or major disciplinary breaches in operating the reporting and evaluation system draw a circular of criticism and an unqualified result.

Article 15. Interpretation of these Measures rests with GAPP.

Article 16. These Measures take effect from the date of promulgation.

General Administration of Press and Publication

11 January 2011

Source: China Packaging Network (pack.cn); original link: http://news.pack.cn/show-362023.html