Laws of the People's Republic of China

The State Council

Order of the State Council of the People's Republic of China

No. 390

The Regulations of the People's Republic of China on Certification and Accreditation, which have been adopted at the 18th executive meeting of the State Council on August 20, 2003, are hereby promulgated, and shall be implemented as of November 1, 2003.

Wen Jiabao, Premier of the State Council

September 3, 2003

Regulations of the People's Republic of China on Certification and Accreditation

Chapter I General Principles

Article 1

The present Regulations are hereby formulated With a view to regulating the certification and accreditation activities, improving the quality of products and services and the level of administration, as well as promoting the economic and social development.

Article 2

The term "certification" as mentioned in the present Regulations refers to the assessment activities carried out by the certification bodies to testify whether or not the products, services, and management systems are in conformity with the relevant technical norms and their compulsive requirements or standards.

The term "accreditation" as mentioned in the present Regulations refers to the assessment activities carried out by the accreditation bodies to recognize the capabilities and qualifications of the certification bodies, inspection organizations and laboratories, and practicing personnel engaging in such certification activities as the appraisal and examination, etc.

Article 3

Where the certification and accreditation activities are undertaken within the territory of the People's Republic of China, the present Regulations shall be observed.

Article 4

The State shall implement a uniform certification and accreditation supervision system.

The State shall apply the working mechanism on certification and accreditation under which all the relevant departments shall implement the work together under the uniform administration, supervision and comprehensive coordination of the certification and accreditation administration department of the State Council.

Article 5

The certification and accreditation administration department of the State Council shall strengthen the supervision over and administration of the activities of the certification training institutions and certification consultation institutions in accordance with the law.

Article 6

The principles of impersonality and independence, openness and justice, and good faith shall be observed in carrying out the certification and accreditation activities.

Article 7

The State encourages the international mutual recognition activities of certification and accreditation to be carried out on the basis of equality and mutual benefits. The international mutual recognition activities of certification and accreditation shall not impair the national security and public interests.

Article 8

The organizations and persons undertaking the certification and accreditation activities shall have the duty to keep the state secrets and commercial secrets as they well know confidential.

Chapter II Certification Bodies

Article 9

The establishment of a certification body shall be approved by the certification and accreditation administration department of the State Council, and the certification activities shall be carried out within the scope of approval after the qualification of a legal entity has been obtained.

Any entity or person may not undertake certification activities without approval.

Article 10

The establishment of a certification body shall meet the conditions as follows:

1.

Having a fixed location and the necessary facilities;

2.

Having an administration system in conformity with the requirements of certification and accreditation;

3.

The registered capital shall not be less than RMB 3 million Yuan; and

4.

There are more than 10 full time certification personnel in the corresponding fields.

Certification bodies undertaking product certification activities shall possess such technical capability for examination and inspection in conformity with the relevant product certification activities in addition.

Article 11

The establishment of certification bodies with foreign investment shall conform to the following conditions, besides those prescribed in Article 10 of the present Regulations;

1.

The foreign investors shall have obtained the accreditation of the accreditation organizations in their own countries or districts;

2.

The foreign investors shall have experiences of engaging in certification activities for more than 3 years.

The application, approval and registration for the establishment of certification bodies with foreign investment shall be handled pursuant to the relevant foreign investment laws, administrative regulations and the pertinent provisions of the State.

Article 12

The procedures for the application and approval of the establishment of a certification body:

1.

The applicants for the establishment of a certification body shall file an application in written form to the certification and accreditation administration department of the State Council, and shall submit certification documents in conformity with Article 10 of the present Regulations;

2.

The certification and supervision administration department of the State Council shall, within 90 days as of accepting the application for the establishment of a certification body, make decisions on whether to approve or not. Where the approval has to do with the responsibility of the relevant departments of the State Council, the opinions of whom shall be solicited. Where the approval is to be granted, the document of approval shall be issued to the applicants; where the approval is not to be granted, the applicants shall be notified in written form and the reason shall be explained; and

3.

The applicants shall go through the registration procedures according to law in accordance with the document of approval issued by the certification and accreditation administration department of the State Council.

The certification and accreditation administration departments of the State Council shall publicize the directories of the legally established certification bodies.

Article 13

The representative agency of a foreign certification organization within the territory of the People's Republic of China shall be established upon approval, and it may not undertake the popularization activities with respect to the business scope of the organization it is subordinated after going through the registration procedures at the administration departments for industry and commerce according to law, but it may not carry out the certification activities.

The application, approval and registration of the representative agency established within the territory of the People's Republic of China by the foreign certification organization shall be handled pursuant to the relevant foreign investment laws, administrative regulations and the pertinent provisions of the State.

Article 14

The certification bodies may not have interests relations of any kind with the administrative departments.

The certification bodies may not accept any grants that may influence the impersonality and justice of the certification activities; and may not undertake any such activities that may influence the impersonality and justice of the certification activities as the development and sale of the products, etc.

The certification bodies may not have interests relations of any kind with the certification clients in such aspects as capital and management.

Article 15

The persons undertaking the certification activities shall practice in one certification body, and are prohibited from practicing in more than two certification bodies at the same time.

Article 16

The inspection organizations and the laboratories that issue to the public the data and results, which have the function of verification, shall possess the basic conditions and capabilities as required by the relevant laws and administrative regulations, and may carry out the relative activities after being recognized in accordance with the law. The results of the accreditation shall be publicized by the certification and accreditation administration department of the State Council.

Chapter III Certification

Article 17

The State shall popularize the certification on products, services and management systems conforming to the requirements of the economic and social development.

Article 18

The certification bodies shall carry out the certification activities in light of the basic certification standards and certification rules, which shall be formulated by the certification and accreditation administration department of the State Council; where the standards and rules have to do with the functions of the relative departments of the State Council, they shall be formulated by the certification and accreditation administration department of the State Council together with the relative departments of the State Council.

Where the certification is in a new field, and no corresponding certification rules have been formulated by the departments as mentioned in the preceding paragraph, the certification bodies may make certification rules by themselves, which shall be put on records at the certification and accreditation administration department of the State Council.

Article 19

Any legal entity, organization or individual may entrust a certification body legally established of his own accord to make the certification on products, services and management systems.

Article 20

No certification bodies may refuse to provide the certification services within the business scope of their own certification bodies for the reason that the clients fail to take part in the certification consultation or certification training, etc., nor may they put forward to the clients the requirements or restricted conditions irrespective to the certification activities.

Article 21

The certification bodies shall make public such information as the basic certification standards, certification rules and charging standards, etc.

Article 22

The certification bodies and the inspection organizations with regard to certification, as well as the laboratories shall, when carrying out the certification activities and inspection and examination activities with regard to certification, complete the procedures as prescribed in the basic certification standards and certification rules, in order to ensure the integrity, impersonality and truthfulness of the certification, inspection and examination, no procedures may be increased, reduced, or omitted.

The certification bodies and inspection organizations with regard to certification, as well as the laboratories shall make full records on the process of certification, inspection and examination, which shall be kept on file for future reference.

Article 23

The certification bodies and their personnel shall make the certification conclusions in time, and ensure the impersonality and truthfulness of the certification conclusions, which shall then be subscribed by the person responsible for the certification bodies after being signed by the certification personnel.

The certification bodies and their personnel shall be responsible for the certification conclusions.

Article 24

Where the products, services, and the management systems are certified as in conformity with the requirements of certification by the certification conclusions, the certification bodies shall issue the certificate to the clients in good time.

Article 25

Those who have obtained the certificates shall use the certificates and certification marks within the certification scope. No entity may, by using the product and service certificates, certification marks and the relative characters and symbols, mislead the public to believe that their management systems have passed the certification; or mislead the public to believe that their products and services have passed the certification by using the administration system certificates, certification marks and the relative characters and symbols.

Article 26

The certification bodies may formulate the certification marks by themselves and put them on records at the certification and accreditation administration department of the State Council.

No style, character or name of the certification marks formulated by the certification bodies themselves may violate the provisions of laws and administrative regulations, nor may they be the same as or similar to the certification marks already popularized by the State, nor may they impede social administration, or impair social morals or customs.

Article 27

The certification bodies shall carry out effective following-up investigations on the products, services and management systems certified by them. Where the products, services and management systems that have been certified fail to meet the requirements of the certification continuously, the certification bodies shall suspend their use and even revoke the certificates, and make that public.

Article 28

With a view to safeguarding the national security, preventing fraudulent acts, protecting the health or safety of human body, safeguarding the life or health of animals and plants, and protecting the environments, no products, which must be certified as prescribed by the State, may leave the factory, or may be sold, imported or used in other business activities until after being certified and labeled with the certification marks.

Article 29

The State shall, for those products that must be certified, unify the catalogues of products, the compulsive requirements, standards and conformity assessment procedures of the technical norms, and the marks, as well as the charging standards.

The uniform catalogues of products (hereinafter refers to as the Catalogues) shall be formulated and adjusted jointly by the certification and accreditation administration department of the State Council and the relevant departments of the State Council, and shall be publicized by the certification and accreditation administration department of the State Council, and implemented jointly by the relative departments and institutions.

Article 30

The products listed in the Catalogues must be certified by the certification bodies as designated by the certification and accreditation administration department of the State Council.

The certification marks of the products listed in the Catalogues shall be prescribed uniformly by the certification and accreditation administration department of the State Council.

Article 31

Where the products listed in the Catalogues have to do with the catalogues of the import and export commodities inspection, the inspection procedures shall be simplified when the import and export commodities inspections are made on them.

Article 32

The accreditation bodies, inspection organizations with regard to certification, and the laboratories as confirmed by the certification and accreditation administration department of the State Council to undertake the certification of products as listed in the Catalogues (hereinafter referred to as the confirmed certification bodies, inspection organizations, and laboratories) shall be those who have been undertaking the relative businesses for a long time, have no bad records, and have obtained the accreditation and have the ability to carry out the relative certification activities according to the present Regulations. When the certification and accreditation administration department of the State Council is confirming the certification bodies that are to engage in the activities of product certification as listed in the Catalogues, it shall ensure that at least two bodies that meet the requirements of the present Regulations are confirmed in each field of products as listed in the Catalogues.

Where the certification and accreditation administration department of the State Council is confirming the certification bodies, inspection organizations, and laboratories as prescribed in the preceding paragraph, it shall publicize, in advance, the relative information and organize the recognized experts in the relative fields to form an expert evaluation committee to make evaluations on the certification bodies, inspection organizations and laboratories that meet the requirements of the preceding paragraph; after the evaluation is made and the opinions of the relative departments of the State Council is solicited, it shall make the decisions in light of the principles of making full use of the resources, fair competition, convenience and effectiveness within the time limit of publication.

Article 33

The certification and accreditation administration department of the State Council shall make public the directories of the confirmed certification bodies, inspection organizations and laboratories, as well as the confirmed business scopes.

No organizations may undertake the certification on the products as listed in the Catalogues, and the examination and inspection activities in relation to certification without approval.

Article 34

All producers or sellers, and importers of products as listed in the Catalogues may entrust confirmed certification bodies of themselves to make the certifications.

Article 35

The confirmed certification bodies, inspection organizations and laboratories shall provide convenient and timely services on certification, examination and inspection within the confirmed business scope. They may not delay, discriminate and create difficulties for the clients, or seek for improper interests.

Any confirmed certification bodies may not transfer the confirmed certification business to other organizations.

Article 36

The confirmed certification bodies, inspection organizations and laboratories shall carry out the international mutual recognition activities within the framework of international mutual recognition agreements signed between the certification and accreditation administration department of the State Council or the relevant authorized departments of the State Council and the foreign countries.

Chapter IV Accreditation

Article 37

The accreditation bodies designated by the certification and accreditation administration department of the State Council (hereinafter referred to as the "accreditation bodies") shall carry out the accreditation activities independently.

Any entity other than the accreditation body may not undertake the accreditation activities directly or in a disguised form, the accreditation result concerned is invalid.

Article 38

The certification bodies, inspection organizations, and laboratories may, through the accreditation made by the accreditation bodies, keep their capabilities of certification, examination and inspection conforming to the requirements of accreditation continuously and steadily.

Article 39

The personnel engaging in such certification activities as the appraisal and examination, etc., may not carry out the certification activities accordingly until being registered by the accreditation bodies.

Article 40

The accreditation bodies shall have the quality system in conformity with their scope of accreditation, and establish the internal examination system to ensure the implementation of quality system effectively.

Article 41

The accreditation bodies may, according to the requirements of accreditation, select and retain personnel engaging in the accreditation evaluation activities, who are experts in the relative fields, familiar with the relative laws, administrative regulations and accreditation rules and procedures, and have good moral character, special knowledge and business ability required for making the evaluation.

Article 42

Where the accreditation bodies entrust others to complete the specific appraisal business in relation to accreditation, they shall be responsible for the appraisal conclusion.

Article 43

The accreditation bodies shall publicize such information as the conditions, procedures of the accreditation, and the charging standards.

The accreditation bodies may not, when accepting the accreditation applications, propose requirements or restricted conditions irrespective to the accreditation activities.

Article 44

The accreditation bodies shall complete the evaluation on the certification bodies, inspection organizations and laboratories within the time limit publicized, in light of the State standards and the provisions of the certification and accreditation administration department of the State Council, and make decisions on whether or not to grant the accreditation, as well as make full reports on the accreditation process and put them on record. The accreditation bodies shall ensure the impersonality, justice, integrity and effectiveness of the accreditation, and shall be responsible for the accreditation conclusions.

The accreditation bodies shall issue the accreditation certificates to the certification bodies, inspection organizations and laboratories having obtained the accreditation, and have the directories of them publicized.

Article 45

The accreditation bodies shall, in light of the State standards and the provisions of the certification and accreditation administration department of the State Council, make examinations on the personnel engaging in such certification activities as evaluation and examination, and make registration for those who pass the examination.

Article 46

The accreditation certificates shall include the scope, standards and fields of accreditation and the period of validity.

The format of the accreditation certificate and the style of the accreditation mark shall be approved by the certification and accreditation administration department of the State Council.

Article 47

The organizations who have obtained the accreditation shall use the accreditation certificates and marks within the scope of the accreditation obtained. Where the organizations those have obtained the accreditation use the accreditation certificates and marks improperly, the accreditation bodies shall suspend the use of the accreditation certificates or even revoke them, and make that public.

Article 48

The accreditation bodies shall implement effective following-up supervision over the organizations or personnel that have obtained the accreditation, and make re-evaluation periodically on the organizations that have obtained the accreditation, in order to validate their continuous conformity with the accreditation requirements. Once an organization or person that has obtained the accreditation no longer meets the accreditation requirements, the accreditation bodies shall revoke their accreditation certificates and make that public.

The changes in relation to the accreditation requirements as the practicing personnel and the primary responsible person of the organizations that have obtained the accreditation, their facilities, certification rules formulated by themselves, etc., shall be notified to the accreditation bodies in good time.

Article 49

Any accreditation bodies may not accept any grants that may influence the impersonality and justice of the accreditation activities.

Article 50

The certification bodies, inspection organizations and laboratories within China, who have obtained the accreditation from foreign accreditation bodies, shall put that on record at the certification and accreditation administration department of the State Council.

Chapter V Supervision and Administration

Article 51

The certification and accreditation administration department of the State Council shall make supervisions over the certified enterprises by way of organizing the experts of the same industry to appraise through discussion, soliciting opinions from the certified enterprises, and making spot-check on the certification activities and certification results, as well as demanding the certification bodies, inspection organizations, and laboratories in relation to certification to make report on their business activities. In case any act in violation of the present Regulations shall be investigated into and solved in time, and where the illicit act has to do with the function of the relative departments of the State Council, the relevant departments shall be informed in time.

Article 52

The certification and accreditation administration department of the State Council shall supervise the confirmed certification bodies, inspection organizations and laboratories, and inspect their certification periodically or aperiodically, examination and inspection activities. The confirmed certification bodies, inspection organizations and laboratories shall submit reports periodically to the certification and accreditation administration department of the State Council, and shall be responsible for the authenticity of the report. The conditions of certification, inspection and examination on the products listed in the Catalogues shall be explained in the report.

Article 53

The accreditation bodies shall submit reports periodically to the certification and accreditation administration department of the State Council, and shall be responsible for the authenticity of the report; there in the report shall be explanations on such conditions as the implementation of accreditation systems by the accreditation bodies, the undertaking of the accreditation activities and the work done by the practicing personnel.

The certification and accreditation administration department of the State Council shall make appraisal on the report submitted by the accreditation bodies, and make supervisions over the accreditation bodies by way of referring to the file data of accreditation, and inquiring the information from the relative persons.

Article 54

The certification and accreditation administration department of the State Council may, in light of the needs of supervision of the certification and accreditation, ask the primary responsible persons of the accreditation bodies, certification bodies, inspection organizations, and the laboratories for information about the relative matters, and give them instructions to correct, and the relative personnel shall cooperate actively.

Article 55

The quality and technology supervision departments of all provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities directly under the Central Government, and the institutions of entry-exit inspection and quarantine established by the departments of the State Council for quality supervision, inspection and quarantine, shall, pursuant to the present regulations, supervise the accreditation activities within the authorization of the certification and accreditation administration department of the State Council.

The quality and technology supervision departments of the provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities directly under the Central Government, and the institutions of entry-exit inspection and quarantine established by the departments of the State Council for quality supervision, inspection and quarantine, which are authorized by the certification and accreditation administration department of the State Council, shall be called by a joint name as the local certification administration departments.

Article 56

Any entity or person is entitled to report an offense on the illicit acts of certification or accreditation of the certification and accreditation administration department of the State Council and the local certification administration departments, who shall then make investigations into and handle them in time, and keep confidential for reporter.

Chapter VI Legal Liabilities

Article 57

Any entity or person engaging in the certification activities without approval shall be prohibited and imposed upon a fine ranging from more than 100 thousand Yuan to less than 500 thousand Yuan, and the illegal gains shall be confiscated if any.

Article 58

Where the foreign certification organizations establish representative offices within the People's Republic of China without approval, they shall be prohibited and imposed upon a fine ranging from more than 50 thousand Yuan to less than 200 thousand Yuan, and the illegal gains shall be confiscated if any.

Where the representative offices of foreign certification organizations established upon approval engage in the certification activities within the territory of the People's Republic of China, they shall be ordered to make corrections and be imposed upon a fine ranging from more than 100 thousand Yuan to less than 500 thousand Yuan, and the illegal gains shall be confiscated if any; where the circumstances are serious, the documents of approval shall be revoked and publicized.

Article 59

Where the certification bodies accept grants that may influence the impersonality and justice of the certification activities, or engage in such activities as the development and sales of the products, etc. that may influence the impersonality and justice of the certification activities, or have interests relations in capitals or management with the certification clients, they shall be ordered to suspend operation for rectification, where the circumstance is serious, the documents of approval shall be revoked, and the punishment shall be made public; and the illegal gains shall be confiscated if any; where it constitutes a crime, their criminal liabilities shall be prosecuted for.

Article 60

Where the certification bodies have any of the following circumstances, they shall be ordered to make corrections, and be imposed on a fine ranging from more than 50 thousand Yuan to less than 200 thousand Yuan, and the illegal gains shall be confiscated if any; where the circumstances are serious, they shall be ordered to suspend operation for rectification or even be revoked of the documents of approval, and the punishment shall be made public:

1.

Carrying out certification activities out of the scope of approval;

2.

Increasing, reducing, or omitting the procedures as prescribed in the basic certification regulations and rules;

3.

Failing to make following-up investigation on their certification products, services and management systems effectively, or failing to suspend the use of or revoke the certificates and make public the punishment after finding out that their certified products, services and management systems are unable to meet the requirements of certification; or

4.

Retaining persons who haven't been registered by the accreditation bodies to undertake the certification activities.

Where the inspection organizations, laboratories in relation to certification increase, decrease or omit the procedures of the basic certification regulations or rules, they shall be punished pursuant to the preceding paragraph.

Article 61

Where the certification bodies have any of the following circumstances, they shall be ordered to make corrections within a certain time limit; where they still haven't made corrections at the expiry of the time limit, they shall be imposed upon a fine ranging from more than 20 thousand Yuan to less than 100 thousand Yuan:

1.

Refusing to provide the certification services that fall within their business scope for the reason that the clients haven't taken part in the certification consultation or certification training, or bringing forward to the clients the requirements or restricted conditions irrespective to certification activities;

2.

The style, character and name of the self-made certification marks are the same as or similar to the certification marks popularized by the State, or disturb social administration or impair social morals or customs;

3.

Failing to make public such information as the basic certification standards and regulations, as well as the charging standards;

4.

Failing to make full records on the certification process and put them on records for future reference; or

5.

Failing to issue the certificates to their certified clients in time.

Where the inspection organizations and laboratories in relation to the certification fail to make full records on the inspection and examination process in relation to the certification and put them on record for future reference, they shall be punished pursuant to the provisions in the preceding paragraph.

Article 62

Where the certification conclusions provided by the certification bodies are false or seriously inconsistent with the facts, the documents of approval shall be revoked, and the punishment shall be made public; as for the person directly responsible and the certification personnel directly liable, their practicing qualifications shall be revoked; where it constitutes a crime, they shall be prosecuted for criminal liabilities; and the certification bodies shall bear the compensation liabilities for the damage.

Where the confirmed certification bodies have the illicit acts as prescribed in the preceding paragraph, their confirmations shall be revoked at the same time.

Article 63

Where a certification personnel who practices business not within the certification body or at over two certification bodies, he shall be ordered to make corrections, and be imposed upon a penalty of suspension of practicing activities over 6 months and below 2 years, where he still makes no corrections after the punishment, his practicing qualifications shall be revoked.

Article 64

Where the certification bodies and inspection organizations, laboratories in relation to the certification engage in the certification of products listed in the Catalogues, or inspections and examinations in relation to the certification without confirmation or approval, they shall be ordered to make corrections and be imposed upon a fine ranging from more than 100 thousand Yuan to less than 500 Yuan, and the illegal gains shall be confiscated if any.

Where the certification bodies undertake the certification of products listed in the Catalogues without confirmation and approval, their documents of approval shall be revoked, and the punishment shall be publicized.

Article 65

Where the confirmed certification bodies, inspection organizations, and laboratories carry out the certification of products listed in the Catalogues, or the inspection and examination activities in relation to the certification beyond the confirmed business scope, they shall be ordered to make corrections, and be imposed upon a fine ranging from more than 100 thousand Yuan to less than 500 thousand Yuan, and the illegal gains shall be confiscated if any; when the circumstances are serious, the confirmation shall be withdrawn or even the documents of approval shall be revoked, the punishment shall be made public.

Where the confirmed bodies transfer their confirmed certification businesses, they shall be punished pursuant to the provisions of the preceding paragraph.

Article 66

Where the certification bodies, inspection organizations, and laboratories who have obtained the accreditation from foreign accreditation organizations fail to put that on record at the certification and accreditation administration department of the State Council, they shall be given warnings, the punishment shall be made public.

Article 67

Where the products listed in the Catalogues are left in the factory, sold, imported or used in other business activities without approval or certification, the certification bodies shall be ordered to make corrections and be imposed upon a fine ranging from more than 50 thousand Yuan to less than 200 thousand Yuan, and the illegal gains shall be confiscated if any.

Article 68

Where the accreditation bodies have any of the following circumstances, they shall be ordered to make corrections; when the circumstances are serious, the person responsible and personnel liable shall be discharged from his office or be dismissed:

1.

Accrediting organizations or persons not conforming to the accreditation requirements;

2.

Failing to revoke the accreditation certificates in time and have that made public, after finding out that the organizations or persons who have obtained the accreditation don't made public the accreditation requirements; or

3.

Accepting grants that may influence the impersonality and justice of the accreditation activities.

The principal responsible persons of the accreditation bodies and the personnel liable, who have been discharged from their offices or been dismissed, are prohibited from engaging in the accreditation activities for 5 years as of the date of being discharged from the office or being dismissed.

Article 69

Where the accreditation bodies have any of the following circumstances, they shall be ordered to make corrections; and the person responsible and the personnel liable shall be given warnings:

1.

Bringing forward to the applicants the requirements or restricted conditions irrespective to the accreditation activities when accepting the accreditation applications;

2.

Failing to complete the accreditation activities within the period of publication, or failing to make public such information as the accreditation conditions and procedures, as well as the charging standards, etc.;

3.

Failing to suspend the use of accreditation certificates or marks, or revoke the accreditation certificates and have the punishment made public in time, when finding out that the accreditation bodies improperly use the accreditation certificates and marks; or

4.

Failing to make full records on the accreditation process and put them on record for future reference.

Article 70

Where the certification and accreditation administration department of the State Council and the local certification administration departments and their staff members misuse their authority, practice favoritism and irregularities, and neglect their duties, and have any of the following acts, the person directly responsible and other personnel directly liable shall be imposed upon such administrative punishment as being degraded or discharged from his office according to law; if a crime is constituted, criminal liabilities shall be prosecuted for:

1.

Giving approval and confirmation not in accordance with the conditions and procedures as prescribed in the present Regulations;

2.

Failing to withdraw the documents of approval or confirmation after finding out that the accreditation bodies are no longer consistent with the conditions of approval or confirmation;

3.

Failing to withdraw the confirmation after finding out that the confirmed inspection organizations or laboratories are no longer in conformity with the confirmed conditions as prescribed in the present Regulations;

4.

Failing to investigate and give punishment to the certification bodies, inspection organizations or laboratories in relation to the certification, after finding out that they provide false certification or inspection and examination conclusions in relation to the certification, or the certification and relative inspection and examination conclusions they make are seriously inconsistent with the facts; or

5.

Failing to investigate and deal with the other illicit certification and accreditation acts prescribed in the present Regulations after finding them out.

Article 71

The acts of forging, taking as their own or selling the certification marks or certificates, shall be investigated into and dealt with in accordance with the provisions of the Product Quality Law of the People's Republic of China.

Article 72

The administrative punishments prescribed in the present Regulations shall be carried out by the certification and accreditation administration department of the State Council or their authorized local certification administration departments. Where there are special provisions prescribed by laws and other administrative regulations, they shall be carried out accordingly.

Article 73

The accreditation bodies shall no longer accept the registration application of the certification personnel within 5 years since their practicing qualifications are revoked.

Article 74

Where the certification bodies fail to make following-up investigations into their certified products effectively, or fail to suspend or revoke the certificates and demand the stop of using the certification marks when finding out their products unable to meet the certification requirements continuously, and thus cause damage to the consumers, they shall bear the joint and several liabilities with the producers and the sellers.

Chapter VII Supplementary Provisions

Article 75

The present Regulations shall not be applicable to the certification of quality administration regulations of the drug production and management enterprises, nor the certification of quality conformity of experimental animals, war products, and nor the certification of the laboratories and their personnel engaging in the calibration and examination of war products.

The certification bodies approved in light of the present Regulations, which engage in the certification of management systems of mines, dangerous chemicals, and fireworks and firecrackers production and management entities, shall carry out the certification under the organization of the work safety administration departments of the State Council in combination with the special requirements of work safety; the certification bodies engaging in the comprehensive evaluation on work safety of the production and management entities of mines, dangerous chemicals and fireworks and firecrackers, may not obtain the accreditation of the accreditation bodies until the recommendation of the work safety administration departments of the State Council.

Article 76

The certification and accreditation charges shall be in conformity with the relative provisions of price laws and administrative regulations of the State.

Article 77

The measures for the administration of certification training institutions and certification consultation institutions shall be formulated by the certification and accreditation administration department of the State Council.

Article 78

The present Regulations shall enter into force as of November 1st, 2003. The Regulations of the People's Republic of China on the Administration of Product Quality Certification promulgated by the State Council on May 7th, 1991 shall be repealed simultaneously.