On 19 May 2023, the State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR) issued a call for public comments on the revised version of the Administrative Measures for Sector Standards (Draft for Comments). Stakeholders may submit their opinions and comments online, via email or by correspondence, before 18 June 2023. China’s current standards system is defined by Standardization Law, which came into effect on the 1 January 2018. The standards system consists of five hierarchies of standards: national (i.e. GB/GBT), sector (or ministry) (i.e. JB/T, YY/T, etc.), local (i.e. DB/T), association, and enterprises standards. This new administrative measures only applies to management of sector standards.

The objective of the current revision is to integrate and reflect the standardization-related reforms and requirements outlined in the Standardization Law and the National Standardization Development Outline. In addition, the administration of sector standards faces significant challenges at the moment, such as sector standards overlapping with national standards, creating barriers for market access, etc. To address these issues, SAMR delegated the China National Institute of Standardization to draft the text, a process which involved the contribution of representatives from 11 other sectors and administrative authorities.

According to the draft, the revised Administrative Measures consist of five chapters and 33 provisions, covering the scope of sector standards, management responsibilities, formulation procedures, implementation and review, as well as supervision and management. The major changes compared to the current version are summarized below:

(1) Clarifying the positioning and scope of sector standards

The purpose of the regulation is to strengthen the management of sector standards. The revised version clarifies the relationship between sector standards and national standards, by stipulating that the former are complementary to the latter, and by clarifying the voluntary nature of sector standards.

In addition, the revised version specifies that sector standards should be formulated only for important products, engineering technology, services and industry management, within the scope of the responsibilities of relevant administrative departments under the State Council. To avoid misinterpretation, the draft doc also includes circumstances where sector standards cannot be formulated.

(2) Specifying the main body of responsibility for sector standards

The revised version clarifies the responsibilities of the standardization administrative body under the State Council (namely, the Standardization Administration of China, SAC) and the other relevant administrative departments in the management of sector standards. Moreover, the document stipulates that sector standards code without approval shall not be used, and that the development of sector standards should not exceed the scope approved and published by SAC.

(3) Clarifying the formulation procedure of sector standards

The revised Administrative Measures provide a whole set of procedures for the development of sector standards, including initiation of new projects, drafting, soliciting opinions, technical review, publicizing standard codes, and filing. Of particular relevancy are several special provisions relating to foreign stakeholders that were added in this new draft, including:

  • Provisions for the equal participation of foreign-invested enterprises in the formulation process;
  • Dedicated provisions for principles guiding the disposal of patentsinvolved in sector standards;
  • Dedicated provision of sector standards adopting international standards and foreign standards.

(4) Adding a new chapter related to the implementation and review of sector standards

The older version of the Administrative Measures only stipulated the requirements and procedure for the development of sector standards; whereas the proposed revised version also add a dedicated chapter for the implementation and review of sector standards. In particular, the results of the review will be publicly announced, while different review result shall entail different procedures. For instance, if it is decided to withdraw certain standards, public opinions shall be solicited before official withdrawal.

(5) Dedicating one chapter to supervision and administration

The revised Administrative Measures increased the requirements for self-supervision of the relevant administrative departments of the State Council, supervision and spot check by SAC, as well as social supervision. In addition, the fourth chapter of the revised version includes several articles for challenges (aforementioned) identified. For instance, the Article 28 stipulates that, when the sector standards overlap or contradict national standards, relevant administrative departments shall work and negotiate with SAC to identify a solution. Based on the negotiation outcome, the relevant administrative departments shall be responsible for carrying out follow-up work.

In general, the revised version would contribute to a more standardized and transparent structure of sector standards. However, its influence might be limited. This is because, currently, the document has not yet been endorsed by other ministries, like MIIT and MPS, which are the bodies actually in charge of managing sector standards in their administrative jurisdictions. 2) Only 11 sectors participated in the drafting of these rules, which means other sectors might not follow the provisions, at least in short term.