State Administration for Market Regulation: Strengthen Legislation on Certification, Accreditation, Inspection, and Testing

Recently, the State Administration for Market Regulation issued the "Implementation Outline for the Construction of Law-based Market Regulation (2021-2025)" (hereinafter referred to as the "Outline"). It clearly states the need to strengthen legislation in areas such as metrology, standardization, certification and accreditation, inspection and testing, and to promote the construction of the national quality infrastructure; to enhance legislative coordination and actively advance the formulation and revision of laws and regulations such as the Certification and Accreditation Regulations and the Special Equipment Safety Supervision Regulations.

The "Outline" clarifies the overall goal of building a law-based market regulation system (2021-2025), which is that by 2025, a market regulation system with clear responsibilities, lawful performance, intelligence, and high efficiency will be increasingly sound; the legal system for market regulation will be more complete; administrative law enforcement in market regulation will be more efficient; legal supervision of market regulation will be strengthened; legal guarantees for market regulation will be more robust; the promotion mechanism for law-based market regulation construction will be smoother; and all work related to law-based market regulation construction will reach a new level, contributing the strength and wisdom of market regulation to the realization of basically building a country, government, and society under the rule of law by 2035.

The "Outline" is based on the actual situation of market regulation departments and fully implements major measures from the "Plan for Building a Rule of Law China (2020-2025)", the "Implementation Outline for Building a Rule of Law Government (2021-2025)", and the "Implementation Outline for Building a Rule of Law Society (2020-2025)", including six parts with 28 items.

First, overall requirements: the "Outline" clarifies the guiding ideology, main principles, and overall goals for building law-based market regulation.

Second, improving and perfecting the legal norm system: the "Outline" emphasizes the necessity to adhere to scientific legislation, democratic legislation, and legislation according to law; actively build a systematic, complete, scientific, standardized, and effectively operating legal norm system for market regulation; and makes specific deployments from aspects such as strengthening market regulation legislation, improving the legislative work mechanism, strengthening supervision and management of administrative normative document formulation, and comprehensively enhancing the legalization level of administrative decision-making.

Third, improving and perfecting the law enforcement implementation system: the "Outline" emphasizes the necessity to adhere to statutory duties, no actions without authorization, strict, standardized, fair, and civilized law enforcement; strive to form a comprehensive, zero-tolerance, more transparent, practical, and safe pre-event, in-event, and post-event supervision system; and makes specific deployments from aspects such as fully implementing the list management system, continuously optimizing the law-based business environment, strengthening in-event and post-event supervision based on credit regulation, strengthening law enforcement supervision in key areas, promoting innovation in supervision methods based on smart supervision, standardizing administrative law enforcement behavior, improving emergency response mechanisms, and perfecting dispute resolution mechanisms.

Fourth, improving and perfecting the legal supervision system: the "Outline" emphasizes the necessity to adhere to the principle that those with power must have responsibility, those responsible must take responsibility, and those who fail must be held accountable; improve the power operation restriction and supervision mechanism; ensure that all market regulation duties are fully performed according to legal authority and procedures; and makes specific deployments from aspects such as improving supervision mechanisms, strengthening law enforcement supervision, strictly implementing the administrative law enforcement responsibility system, and comprehensively promoting government information disclosure.

Fifth, improving and perfecting the legal guarantee system: the "Outline" emphasizes the necessity to further improve the market regulation function system, vigorously strengthen the legal capacity building of the cadre team, improve the working conditions for legal construction, create a good legal environment, and provide a solid guarantee for the construction of law-based market regulation; and makes specific deployments from aspects such as consolidating the achievements of institutional reform, strengthening the capacity for law-based administration, improving the legal counsel system for public officials, strengthening grassroots infrastructure, and actively creating a good legal environment.

Sixth, strengthening Party building: the "Outline" emphasizes the necessity to uphold the Party's comprehensive leadership, place the promotion of law-based market regulation construction in a more prominent position in the overall work, adhere to the overall approach of law-based work and the legalization of overall work, integrate and mobilize resources and forces from all aspects, form a strong synergy to promote law-based market regulation construction; and makes specific deployments from aspects such as fully implementing the Constitution, strengthening the Party's leadership over law-based market regulation construction, and establishing and improving the guidance and evaluation mechanism for law-based market regulation construction.

Regarding improving and perfecting the legal norm system, the "Outline" proposes strengthening market regulation legislation. It calls for strengthening legislation in areas such as antitrust and anti-unfair competition, credit regulation, and price regulation to promote the formation of an efficient, standardized, and fair domestic unified market. It promotes the improvement of laws and regulations in the food and drug fields to address issues of insufficient strictness or enforcement. It strengthens legislation in areas such as special equipment and industrial product quality and safety to effectively safeguard the safety of people's lives and property. It strengthens legislation in metrology, standardization, certification and accreditation, inspection and testing to promote the construction of the national quality infrastructure. It strengthens legislation in intellectual property areas such as patents and trademarks to promote innovation-driven development.

It strengthens legislative coordination and actively advances the formulation and revision of laws and regulations such as the Anti-Monopoly Law, Metrology Law, Product Quality Law, Implementation Regulations of the Consumer Rights Protection Law, Interim Regulations on Enterprise Information Disclosure, Regulations on Market Supervision and Administration Offices, Administrative Penalty Provisions for Price Violations, Certification and Accreditation Regulations, and Special Equipment Safety Supervision Regulations. It actively participates in legislation and supporting system construction related to the Civil Code and epidemic prevention and control, and participates in improving the legal system for corporate social responsibility. It improves the mechanism for cleaning up regulations, carries out timely regulation cleanup, and enhances the systematization and coordination of market regulation regulations.

The "Outline" also mentions strengthening law enforcement supervision in key areas. It strengthens and improves law enforcement against antitrust and unfair competition, resolutely punishes monopolistic and unfair competition behaviors that damage the business environment. It intensifies efforts to combat pyramid schemes, using technical means to identify new types of pyramid schemes under new circumstances conducted under the guise of e-commerce, micro-business, consumer rebates, etc., and lawfully investigates and punishes illegal direct selling activities. According to the division of responsibilities, it lawfully urges internet information companies to fulfill their main responsibilities for network security and perform legally prescribed security management duties; strengthens protection of trade secrets, personal privacy, and personal information.