On the morning of June 25th, the State Administration for Market Regulation held a special press conference on adjusting and improving the management catalog of industrial product production licenses. The following is a transcript of the press conference:
Geng Xin, Deputy Director of the News and Propaganda Department of the State Administration for Market Regulation: Welcome to today's press conference of the State Administration for Market Regulation. Product quality and safety are closely related to the vital interests of the people. In order to ensure the quality and safety of important industrial products and prevent major risks in product quality and safety, the State Council officially issued the Decision on Adjusting and Improving the Catalogue of Industrial Product Production License Management on May 6 this year.
To facilitate everyone's understanding of the relevant situation and the latest work progress of the Decision, we invite Mr. Tian Shihong, Deputy Director of the State Administration for Market Regulation and Director of the National Standards Commission, to provide an in-depth interpretation of the Decision today. In addition, we also invited Mr. Duan Yongsheng, Director of the Quality Supervision Department of the State Administration of Forestry, Mr. Li Hejun, Deputy Director, Mr. Zhang Haideng, Deputy Director of the Raw Materials Industry Department of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, and Mr. Lv Bin, Director of the Forest Product Quality and Standardization Research Center of the National Forestry and Grassland Administration, to answer questions that everyone is interested in.
Firstly, please introduce the relevant situation to Director Tian.
Tian Shihong, Deputy Director of the State Administration for Market Regulation: Good morning, respected journalists and friends. I am delighted to attend today's press conference. On May 6th, the State Council issued the Decision on Adjusting and Improving the Catalogue of Industrial Product Production License Management. According to the deployment requirements of the Decision, the State Administration for Market Regulation will recently issue a notice on the implementation of relevant matters of the State Council's Decision. Next, I will introduce the relevant situation to everyone.
Product quality and safety are closely related to the safety of people's lives, property, and public safety, and are highly valued by the Party Central Committee and the State Council. After soliciting opinions from relevant departments, industry organizations, provincial-level market supervision departments, and various sectors of society, and conducting legitimacy review, fair competition review, and consistency evaluation with macro policy orientation, the State Administration for Market Regulation has submitted the Decision on Adjusting and Improving the Catalogue of Industrial Product Production License Management to the State Council Executive Meeting for deliberation.
In order to ensure the quality and safety of important industrial products, strengthen product access management and source control, the State Council issued the Decision on Adjusting and Improving the Catalogue of Industrial Product Production License Management on May 6. Although the main text is not long, it is rich in content and clear in direction, mainly reflecting four characteristics:
The first characteristic is clear goals. Product quality and safety are closely related to the interests of the general public. Ensuring product quality and safety is a fundamental requirement to meet the needs of the people for a better life and enhance their well-being. It is also the primary responsibility of regulatory authorities. The Decision takes strengthening product access management and source governance as measures, aiming to prevent major risks in product quality and safety, and ensuring the safety of people's lives, property, and public safety as its purpose. It deeply reflects the determination and confidence of the Party Central Committee and the State Council to enhance people's well-being by ensuring product quality and safety.
The second characteristic is problem oriented. In recent years, the overall quality and safety level of products in China has remained stable, but the reliability of product quality in certain fields is not high, and some products still have quality shortcomings. For example, some steel wire ropes, cold-rolled ribbed steel bars, and other materials have weak durability, some artificial boards contain harmful substances exceeding standards, some "safety helmets" are unsafe, and some fertilizer companies make false promises, resulting in unqualified products entering the market, and so on. In response to the prominent quality and safety issues of these products, the Decision proposes to implement industrial product production license management for six types of products, including cold-rolled ribbed steel bars, bottled liquefied petroleum gas regulators, safety helmets, steel wire ropes, plywood, and blockboard. The approval method for fertilizer product production licenses will be adjusted from notification commitment to "approval before certification".
The third characteristic is strict management. At present, products that implement industrial product production license management are all approved by the provincial industrial product production license authority. However, some local governments have delegated approval authority, resulting in insufficient professional and technical capabilities of grassroots approval departments and lax approval control, which poses certain risks to product quality and safety. Therefore, the Decision clearly states that the approval of industrial product production licenses shall be carried out by the provincial department in charge of industrial product production licenses, and the relevant approval authority shall not be delegated.
The fourth characteristic is clear responsibility. The Decision puts forward work requirements for local and relevant departments, among which the competent department of industrial product production licenses under the State Council should formulate detailed implementation rules for the six types of product production licenses as soon as possible, clarify the transition period, and ensure implementation before the end of September 2024. The provincial department in charge of industrial product production licenses should strictly manage the approval process, improve approval efficiency, and strengthen supervision before, during, and after the approval process. All relevant departments should coordinate and cooperate effectively to ensure product quality and safety.
The above is my introduction to the main content of Decision from four aspects of its characteristics. The promulgation of the Decision will further urge relevant production enterprises to implement the main responsibility of quality and safety, control quality and safety risks from the source, maintain a fair and orderly market competition environment, and ensure the safety of people's lives and property.
At the same time, in order to promote the smooth implementation of the Decision, the State Administration for Market Regulation has formulated implementation measures, which will be announced to the public in the form of a public announcement in the near future.
Let me briefly introduce these first. Next, I, along with other comrades attending the press conference today, are willing to answer any questions that everyone is concerned about.
Thank you all!
Geng Xin, Deputy Director of the News and Propaganda Department of the State Administration for Market Regulation: Thank you, Director Tian. Next, we will proceed to the questioning section. Before asking any questions, please inform us of your news organization.
CCTV reporter's question: Just now, you introduced that the State Administration is about to issue a notice on implementing the relevant matters of the State Council's Decision. Could you please provide a detailed introduction to the relevant information of the announcement?
Tian Shihong, Deputy Director of the State Administration for Market Regulation: Thank you for your question. On the one hand, formulating and issuing the Announcement is a necessary measure to implement the Decision of the State Council. According to the Decision of the State Council, the State Administration for Market Regulation shall formulate detailed rules for the implementation of production licenses for six types of products, and make clear provisions on transitional periods and improving approval efficiency. After these regulations are published in the form of public announcements, they will facilitate the implementation of the relevant requirements of the Decision by the provincial industrial product production license authorities and application enterprises. On the other hand, it is the legal responsibility of market regulatory authorities to formulate and publish the Announcement. According to the relevant provisions of the Regulations on the Administration of Industrial Product Production Licenses and the Implementation Measures, the State Administration for Market Regulation, as the competent department of industrial product production licenses under the State Council, shall organize the formulation and issuance of relevant implementation rules for product production licenses.
The announcement is divided into two parts: the main text and the attachment. The main text of the announcement has refined the content of the decision, with a total of 7 measures. One is to establish a three-month transition period for the implementation of production license management for six types of products. Secondly, it is stipulated that enterprises should apply for a product production license in accordance with the requirements of the published product implementation rules; The approval authority shall conduct review and verification in accordance with the implementation rules, and strictly control the approval of production licenses. Thirdly, in accordance with the Implementation Measures for the Management of Industrial Product Production Licenses, it is stipulated that certified enterprises shall complete the labeling of the production license logo and number on their products, packaging, and instructions within 6 months from the date of granting the production license. The fourth is to stipulate that fertilizer enterprises will no longer implement notification commitments and avoid on-site inspections when applying for new production licenses or applying for extended production licenses. The fifth is to clarify that the approval authority for industrial product production licenses cannot be delegated, and those that have been delegated must be promptly recalled. The sixth requirement is to implement "sunshine approval", improve approval efficiency, and accept social supervision. Seventh, if any of the above six products produced or sold before the implementation of production license management are found to be unqualified, measures such as recall and delisting should be taken in accordance with the law for disposal.
The attachment to the Announcement is the Implementation Rules for the Production License of Six Products. Each "Implementation Rules" includes seven parts, including general provisions, certified products and standards, basic conditions and materials for enterprises to apply for production licenses, product inspection and testing reports, on-site inspections by enterprises, scope of certificate licensing, and supplementary provisions. The competent departments of industrial product production licenses of provincial governments will strictly carry out approval work in accordance with the requirements of the Implementation Rules.
Xinhua News Agency reporter asked: What are the main considerations for implementing production license management for six products, including cold-rolled ribbed steel bars? What impact will the implementation of license management have on industry development?
Duan Yongsheng, Director of the Quality Supervision Department of the State Administration for Market Regulation: Thank you for your question. The purpose of establishing and implementing a production license system for important industrial products is to ensure the quality and safety of important industrial products that directly affect public safety, personal health, and life and property safety, and promote the healthy and coordinated development of the industry. There are three main considerations for implementing production license management for six products:
One is to prevent bad currency from driving out good currency. Since 2017, after the cancellation of the production license management for six types of products, there has been a significant increase in production enterprises. Some illegal enterprises have cut corners, and some low-priced and low-quality products that do not meet national standards have entered the market, posing safety hazards.
The second is to reduce the unqualified rate of products. In recent years, the failure rate of spot checks on six products has been relatively high. From 2021 to 2023, the average failure rate of supervision and spot checks on cold-rolled ribbed steel bars, bottled liquefied petroleum gas pressure regulators, steel wire ropes, plywood, blockboard, and safety helmet products was over 10%.
The third is to strengthen the governance of production sources. Implement product production license management, supervise the products produced by enterprises to comply with relevant national standards and industrial policy requirements, and effectively ensure the safety of people's lives, property, and public safety.
Regarding the impact of the implementation of production license management on the development of related industries for the 6 products you mentioned, we believe that after the implementation of production license management for the 6 products, it will force enterprises to improve their product quality and safety level, create a market environment of quality first and survival of the fittest, which is conducive to building a modern industrial system that is independent, controllable, safe, reliable, and highly competitive in quality, promote the industry to move towards the mid to high end, and achieve high-quality development.
Question from Guangming Daily reporter: We have noticed that the State Council's Decision has adjusted the approval method for fertilizer production licenses, from notification commitment to "approval before certification". What is the basis for this consideration?
Li Hejun, Deputy Director of the Quality Supervision Department of the State Administration for Market Regulation: Thank you for your question. Fertilizer, as an important means of agricultural production, is the material foundation for ensuring national food security and agricultural production development, directly related to increasing production and income for farmers. The fertilizer products subject to production license management are compound fertilizer and phosphate fertilizer. Since the implementation of the notification commitment approval in 2020, some regions have experienced phenomena such as using fake fertilizers as fake ones and substituting inferior ones for high-quality ones. In the comprehensive routine inspections conducted by market regulatory authorities in various regions, there are also cases of revoking production licenses due to false promises and other reasons.
Therefore, we believe that it is necessary to adjust the approval method for the production license of fertilizer products, from notification commitment to "approval before certification" approval. That is, after the enterprise submits an application, the approval department should first conduct on-site verification of its production capacity and conditions. Only when the conditions are met can the production license be issued. By strengthening prior review and admission, product quality and safety can be guaranteed.
Cover News reporter's question: We know that construction steel bars and steel wire ropes are closely related to the safety of people's lives and property, as well as public safety. May I ask how the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, as the supervisory department of the steel industry, can cooperate to ensure product quality and safety?
Zhang Haideng, Deputy Director of the Raw Materials Industry Department of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology: Thank you for your question. The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology attaches great importance to safety work, conscientiously implements the decisions and deployments of the Party Central Committee and the State Council, actively promotes the revision of standards, and plays the role of standards in ensuring product quality and safety.
One is to organize the compilation of mandatory national standards for building steel bars, steel wire ropes, and other products. According to the deployment requirements of the "Action Plan for Upgrading Traction Equipment with Standards and Replacing Old with New Consumer Goods", the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology has organized the National Steel Standardization Technical Committee to accelerate the promotion of six national standards, including cold-rolled ribbed steel bars, hot-rolled smooth round steel bars for reinforced concrete, hot-rolled ribbed steel bars for reinforced concrete, steel wire ropes for elevators, steel wire ropes for cableways, and steel wire ropes for mine hoisting. These six national standards have been transformed from recommended national standards to mandatory national standards. At present, relevant standard drafting, soliciting opinions, and technical review have been completed. Recently, it will be released by the State Administration for Market Regulation in accordance with the procedures.
The second is to actively promote and implement mandatory national standards. After the release of six mandatory standards for construction steel bars, steel wire ropes, and other materials, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology will cooperate with the State Administration for Market Regulation to timely organize publicity activities, strengthen standard interpretation, enhance the awareness of enterprises to strictly implement standards and promote product quality improvement, effectively play the binding and mandatory role of mandatory national standards, and ensure the safety of people's lives, property, and public safety.
China Economic Network reporter asked: This time, the "Decision" will include plywood and blockboard in the production license management of artificial boards. However, we have noticed that artificial boards also include other products such as particle board and medium density fiberboard. What are the main considerations for not including these products in the production license management at the same time?
Lv Bin, Director of the Forest Product Quality and Standardization Research Center of the National Forestry and Grassland Administration: Thank you for your question. According to the information we have, the current production scale of most particle board and medium density fiberboard production lines exceeds 150000 cubic meters per year, achieving continuous and automated industrial production. Some enterprises have production equipment and process technology at the international leading level, and the vast majority of enterprises have systematic quality and safety management systems and relatively complete product quality self inspection capabilities. Product environmental protection and safety issues are controllable and traceable. Especially in recent years, the scale and equipment level of new projects have significantly improved. Based on the comprehensive evaluation of the above situation, in this adjustment, particle board and medium density fiberboard were not included in the production license management.
A reporter from Hong Kong Bauhinia Magazine asked: We have noticed that the Decision requires the competent department of the State Council for industrial product production licenses to formulate implementation rules for six types of product production licenses as soon as possible. What are the specific contents of the implementation rules, and what is the current progress of the formulation?
Li Hejun, Deputy Director of the Quality Supervision Department of the State Administration for Market Regulation: Thank you for your question. The Implementation Rules for Industrial Product Production License are important supporting technical documents of the production license system and an important basis for the provincial industrial product production license authority to implement approval management. They mainly regulate the scope of certified products, implementation standards, basic conditions for enterprises to apply for production licenses, product inspection and testing reports, on-site inspections of enterprises, and the scope of certificate licensing.
The implementation rules developed for the six products this time have two main changes in terms of clause design compared to the past. Firstly, the requirements for production and inspection equipment and facilities have been adjusted, and secondly, the requirements for production enterprises to implement quality and safety main responsibilities and have quality and safety traceability capabilities have been added. The main consideration for making these adjustments is to enable the management of production licenses to truly play a strict role in institutional access, establish a mechanism for end to end effectiveness, and effectively ensure product quality and safety.
Regarding the progress of formulating implementation rules, the State Administration for Market Regulation has conducted multiple special investigations and technical discussions in the early stage, fully listening to the opinions of relevant units such as industry regulatory departments, industry associations, standardization technology committees, production enterprises, and users, and publicly soliciting opinions from the society. We have completed the preparation of the implementation rules for 6 types of product production licenses and will publish them in the form of announcements as soon as possible.
Question from China City Daily: What measures will the State Administration for Market Regulation take to guide local authorities to strengthen approval management after implementing production license management for the six products?
Duan Yongsheng, Director of the Quality Supervision Department of the State Administration for Market Regulation: Thank you for your question. After implementing production license management for six products, the State Administration for Market Regulation will guide and urge local authorities to strictly approve and manage from three aspects:
One is to prepare for the acceptance of permits. Guide all regions to improve the electronic approval system for production licenses in their respective jurisdictions as soon as possible, including six products such as cold-rolled ribbed steel bars in the approval system, adjust the electronic approval process for fertilizer product production licenses, and supplement the formulation of approval procedures, permit documents, and relevant regulations. Assign verification personnel to ensure that relevant acceptance and approval work is carried out in accordance with the time requirements specified in the State Council's Decision.
The second is to strictly implement the approval management regulations. Guide provincial market supervision departments to conduct on-site inspections of enterprise production conditions, production process control, implementation of quality and safety main responsibilities, and quality and safety traceability capabilities in strict accordance with the requirements of the implementation rules. Certificates can only be issued after passing the inspections. For products related to industrial policies, guide local authorities to strictly review industrial policy documents such as project filing and approval. For places where approval authority is delegated, supervise the implementation of the requirements of the State Council's Decision and retrieve the delegated approval authority as soon as possible.
The third is to strengthen the supervision of certified enterprises after obtaining their certificates. After the implementation of the Decision, the State Administration for Market Regulation will guide the national market supervision departments to increase the supervision of certified enterprises after certification, and urge enterprises to continue to maintain the conditions and ability to produce qualified products. We will comprehensively use administrative coercion, administrative penalties, joint punishment, and transfer to judicial authorities for handling illegal and irregular enterprises suspected of unlicensed production, counterfeit and inferior products, and substandard products, in accordance with the law, to effectively ensure the quality and safety of important industrial products.
Geng Xin, Deputy Director of the News and Propaganda Department of the State Administration for Market Regulation: That's all for today's questioning session. Thank you for your questions. If you have any other questions, please feel free to contact our News and Propaganda Department after the meeting. This concludes today's press conference. Thank you all!