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TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER I GENERAL PROVISIONS CHAPTER II FOOD BUSINESS CHAPTER III MACRO-CONTROL CHAPTER IV SUPERVISION AND INSPECTION CHAPTER V LEGAL LIABILITIES CHAPTER VI SUPPLEMENTARY PROVISIONS CHAPTER I GENERAL PROVISIONS Article 1. With a view to protecting the initiatives of food producers, promoting food production, safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of the business operators and consumers, ensure the food security of the state and maintain the order of food supply, the present Regulation is formulated in accordance with the relevant laws. Article 2. The present Regulation shall apply to the purchase, sale, storage, transportation, processing, import and export of food and other related business operations (hereinafter referred to the food business). The term "food" mentioned in the preceding Paragraph refers to wheat, paddy, corn, miscellaneous foods and food foods. Article 3. The state encourages economic bodies of various forms of ownership to engage in the food business and promotes fair competition. All lawful food business activities are protected by the law of the state. It is strictly prohibited from hampering the free circulation of food. The state-owned food trading firms shall transform their business mechanism, improve their market competitiveness, and play the leading role as the main distribution channel of food and take the lead in following the state's food policies. Article 4. The food prices shall mainly be determined by market supply and demand. The state shall intensify its macro control over the food supply market. Article 5. The principle of free will, fairness, honesty and good faith shall be observed in food business. The legitimate rights and interests of the food producers and consumers shall not be impaired, nor may the interests of the state and public interests. Article 6. The development and reform department and the national food administrative department of the State Council shall be responsible for the nationwide equilibrium of aggregate supply and demand of food, macro-control, structural adjustments of important species of food and medium and long-term plans on food supply. The national food administrative department shall be responsible for the administrative management and guidance of food supply, shall supervise the implementation of the laws, regulations, policies and various rules and bylaws regarding the circulation of food. The departments of the administration for industry and commerce, product quality supervision, hygiene and price of the State Council shall be responsible for the work of food supply within their respective functions. Under the macro-control of the state, the people's government of a province, autonomous region, and municipality directly under the Central Government shall be responsible for the equilibrium of the overall volume of regional food and the management of regional reserve food. The food administrative department of the people's government on the county level or above shall be responsible for the administrative management and guidance of the local food supply. The departments of the administration for industry and commerce, product quality supervision, hygiene and price of the local people's government on the county level or above shall be responsible for the work of food supply within their respective functions. CHAPTER II FOOD BUSINESS Article 7. The food business operators refer to the legal persons, other economic organizations and individual industrial and commercial households engaged in purchases, sales, storage, transportation, processing, import and export of food and other related business operations. Article 8. A business operator engaged in food purchases shall meet the following conditions: (1) With financing capacity; (2) Having necessary food storage facilities or having rented such facilities; and (3) Having corresponding food inspection and storage abilities. The specific condition mentioned in the preceding Paragraph shall be formulated and announced by the people's government of the province, autonomous region, or municipality directly under the Central Government. Article 9. A business operator shall not engage in food purchases unless it has acquired the food purchase qualifications and have gone through the formalities for registration in pursuance of the Administrative Regulation of the People's Republic of China on Company Registration. When applying for engaging in food purchases, the applicant shall file an written application with the food administrative department whose level is the same as the administrative department for industry and commerce, in which it shall go through the registration formalities, and it shall offer certification materials of funds, storage facilities, quality inspection and storage ability, etc. The food administrative department shall complete the examination within 15 days from the day when it accepts the said application materials. It shall grant the applicant an approval if it meets the conditions described in Article 8 of the present Regulation and shall make an announcement. Article 10. Anyone who has obtained the qualification approval granted by the food administrative department shall, in accordance with the law, go through the establishment registration formalities in the administrative department for industry and commerce, which shall clearly specify food purchase in its business scope. With regard to anyone who has registered in the administrative department for industry and commerce and intends to engage in food purchase, it is also required to obtain the food purchase qualification approval granted by the food administrative department, to modify the registration of business scope in the administrative department for industry and commerce and to have its business scope clearly specified about the food purchases. Article 11. A food business operator engaged in food purchases (hereinafter referred to food purchaser) shall inform the food sellers of the species, quality standards and purchase prices of food, or publicize the said information in the purchase place. Article 12. When purchasing food, a food purchaser shall implement national food quality standards, shall negotiate the price in light of the quality, shall not impair the interests of the farmers and other food producers. It shall timely pay the sellers for the food, shall not delay any payment, nor may it accept the entrustment of any organization or individual to withhold any tax, fee or other items. Article 13. A food purchaser shall regularly report the food purchase quantity and other related information to the food administrative department of the people's government on the county level where the purchase place is located. When a food purchaser purchases food by going beyond the province where it is registered, it shall regularly report the food purchase quantity and other related information to the food administrative departments of the local people's government on the county level where the purchase place is located and where the food purchaser is registered. Article 14. A food business operator engaged in engaged in purchases, sales, storage, transportation, processing, import and export of food or other related business operations shall go through the registration formalities in the administrative department for industry and commerce. Article 15. The food storage facilities used by a food business operator shall be in line with the relevant standards and technical criteria on food storage. The food shall not be stored together with any harmful materials that possibly pollute it. In the storage of food, it is prohibited from using any chemicals banned by the state or overusing any chemicals. Article 16. In the food transportation, the national technical criteria on food transportation shall be strictly followed. No polluted transport tool or packing material may be used in the food transportation. Article 17. A business operator engaged in edible food processing shall have the essential processing conditions that can guarantee the quality and hygiene of the food. It shall not commit any of the following acts: (1) Processing any moldy unprocessed food or byproducts; (2) Using any additive by violating the relevant provisions; (3) Using any packing materials that cannot satisfy the quality and hygiene standards; (4) Any other act that may affect the food quality and hygiene. Article 18. In the sales of food, the national technical criteria on food transportation shall be strictly followed. No one may give short measure, adulterate, sell any defective food as food of good quality, hoard for speculation, monopolize or manipulate the price, or dominate the market. Article 19. An out-of-storage quality inspection system shall be established for the sale of food. A food storage enterprise shall entrust a qualified food quality testing institution to determine the quality of the food that has exceeded the normal storage time period before the food leaves its storage site, any decayed and rotten food that doesn't meet the edible food hygiene standards shall be strictly prohibited from entering the edible food market. The qualifications for purchasing the decayed food shall be determined by the food administrative department of the provincial people's government jointly with the administrative department for industry and commerce. The standards on determining the decayed food shall be formulated by the food administrative department of the provincial people's government jointly with other relevant departments. The specific measures for the sale, handling and supervision of the decayed food shall be carried out in accordance with the pertinent regulations of the state. Article 20. A business operator engaged in purchase, processing and sale of food shall keep necessary food reserve. Where necessary, the specific standards on the minimum and maximum food reserves shall be formulated by the people's governments on the level of province, autonomous region, or municipality directly under the Central Government. Article 21. The state-owned and state holding food enterprises shall actively purchase food, complete the purchase work entrusted by the government and the purchase and sale work of policy food, shall obey and serve the national macro-control. Article 22. With regard to a food purchaser that meets the requirements for getting loans, the bank shall timely grant it a purchase loan in accordance with the relevant regulations of the state. The China Agricultural Development Bank shall meet the demand of credit funds for central and local food reserves, the food under government control and other policy food, shall support the state-owned and state holding food purchase and distribution enterprises, large leading food-industrialization enterprises and other food purchase and distribution enterprises according to their respective risk bearing capacity. Article 23. All business operators engaged in the purchase, sale, storage and processing of food, the feedstuff enterprises and industrial-use food enterprises shall establish food business account books, shall report and submit the basic data of purchase, sale and storage of food and pertinent information to the local food administrative departments of the people's governments on the county level. The time period for the preservation of the food business account books of a food business operator shall not be less than 3 years. Where the basic data and pertinent information reported and submitted by a food business operator involves any commercial secret, the food administrative department shall keep it confidential. The national food supply statistics system shall be formulated by the food administrative department of the state and shall be reported to the statistics department of State Council for approval. Article 24. The associations of food industry and intermediary organizations shall strengthen the self-discipline, shall play the role of supervision and coordination in maintaining the order of food market. CHAPTER III MACRO-CONTROL Article 25. The state shall intensify the control over food market by taking necessary economic and administrative methods such as purchase and sale of reserve food, entrusted purchase and price intervention so as to keep the approximate equilibrium of aggregate supply and demand of food nationwide and relative stability of price. Article 26. The state adopts the central and level-by-level food reserve system. The food reserve shall be used for coordinating the supply and demand of food, stabilizing the food market and responding to serious natural disasters or other emergencies. The policy food shall, in principle, be purchased and sold through the food wholesale market or by other ways prescribed by the state. Article 27. The State Council and the people's governments at various levels shall establish and perfect the food risk fund system. The food risk funds shall mainly be used for offering subsidies directly to food growers, supporting the food reserve and stabilizing the food market. The finance department of the State Council and the finance departments of the people's governments at various levels shall be responsible for the supervision and management of food risk funds, and shall ensure that the funds be used for exclusive uses. Article 28. Where any important change occurs between the supply and demand of food, for the purpose of guarantee the market supply and protecting the interests of the farmers, the State Council may, if necessary, adopt the minimum purchase price to the important species of food in shortage in the main food production areas. When the food price rises or may rise remarkably, the State Council and the people's government of the provinces, autonomous regions, or municipalities directly under the Central Government, may take price intervention measures in accordance with the Price Law of the People's Republic of China. Article 29. The development and reform department of the State Council and the national food administrative department shall, jointly with the departments of agriculture, statistics and product quality supervision, be responsible for the monitoring and pre-warning analyses of the supply and demand of the food market, shall establish a food supply and demand sample inspection system, and release information about food production, consumption, price and quality, etc. Article 30. The state shall encourage the main food production areas and the major distribution areas to establish stable production-distribution relationship in multiple ways, shall support the establishment of integrate production and distribution enterprises, shall develop order-based agriculture, shall offer necessary economic preferential treatment when implementing the minimum purchase price, and shall give priority in food transportation. Article 31. When any serious natural disaster, epidemic or any other emergency results in abnormal fluctuations of the supply and demand of food market, the state shall implement the food emergency response mechanism. Article 32. The state shall establish a food emergency response system. The development and reform department of the State Council and the national food administrative department shall, jointly with the pertinent departments of the State Council, formulate a national food emergency preparedness and response plan and submit it to the State Council for approval. The people's government of each province, autonomous region, or municipality directly under the Central Government, shall, in light of the actual circumstance within its administrative area, formulate its own food emergency response system. Article 33. With regard to the startup of the national food emergency preparedness and response plan, the development and reform department of the State Council and the national food administrative department shall put forward a proposal and report it to the State Council for approval. Upon approval of the State Council, the said plan may be started up. With regard to the startup of the food emergency preparedness and response plan of a province, autonomous region, or municipality directly under the Central Government, the development and reform department and the food administrative department of this province, autonomous region, or municipality directly under the Central Government, shall put forward a proposal, submit it to the people's government at the same level for making a decision and report it to the State Council. Article 34. After the food emergency preparedness and response plan has been started up, all food business operators shall undertake the emergency tasks required by the state and obey the unified arrangement and deployment of the state so as to meet the needs of emergency response work. CHAPTER IV SUPERVISION AND INSPECTION Article 35. The food administrative departments shall, in pursuance of the present Regulation, conduct supervision and inspection over the food business operators engaged in the purchase, storage and transportation of foods and the purchase and sale of policy foods, and the implementation of national food supply statistics system. The food administrative departments shall examine and verify the food purchase qualifications according to relevant requirements of the state. When performing the supervision and inspection duty, a food administrative department may enter into the business place of the food business operator to check the stock of food, the quality of foods in the purchase and storage activities and the hygiene of unprocessed food food; shall check whether the food storage facilities and equipment meet the national technical requirements or not; shall consult the relevant materials and proofs of the food operators; and inquire of pertinent entities and personnel about relevant information. Article 36. The product quality supervision department shall, according to relevant laws and administrative regulations, conduct supervision and inspection over the illegal acts in processing foods, such as using shoddy goods as genuine ones or inferior as good quality, and adulterating. Article 37. The administrative department for industry and commerce shall, in accordance with relevant laws and administrative regulations, conduct supervision and inspection over the illegal acts such as operating without license, operating by going beyond the business scope, hoarding for speculation, dominating the market, forcible buying or selling, adulterating, using inferior goods as quality goods and other illegal acts disturbing the market order and violating the law and regulation. Article 38. The health administrative departments shall, according to relevant laws and regulations, conduct supervision and inspection over the hygiene in processing and selling food, and storing finished product of food. Article 39. The price administrative departments shall, according to relevant law and regulations, conduct supervision and inspection over the price-related illegal acts in the circulation of foods. Article 40. Any entity or individual shall be entitled to inform the relevant departments of any act in violation of the present Regulation. The relevant departments shall keep the informer confidential, and shall timely investigate and punish the offender(s). CHAPTER V LEGAL LIABILITIES Article 41.With regard to anyone who engages in food purchase activities without approval of the food administrative department or without undergoing the registration formalities in the administrative department for industry and commerce, the illegally purchased food shall be confiscated. If the circumstance is serious, it (he) shall be fined twice up to 5 times of the value of the purchased foods; if any crime is constituted, it (she) shall be subject to criminal liabilities. Where it (he) is found by the food administrative department, it (he) shall be transferred to the administrative department for industry and commerce and be punished according to the provisions of the preceding paragraph. Article 42. With regard to anyone who obtains the food purchase qualification approval through cheating, offering bribes or any other illegal methods, the food administrative department shall revoke its food purchase qualifications, the administrative department for industry and commerce shall cancel its business license and confiscate its illegal gains; if any crime is constituted, it shall be subject to criminal liabilities. Any functionary of the food administrative department, who extorts or accepts any property of others or seeks for other interests when he (she) handles the matters relating to food purchase qualification approval, shall be subject to criminal liabilities if any crime is constituted; if no crime is constituted, he (she) shall be given an administrative sanction. Article 43. Where a food purchaser fails to inform the food sellers of the prescribed items or to publicize the purchase prices of food, or purchases food by suppressing the level and price of the food, monopolizes or manipulates the prices, or commits any other illegal price-related act, it shall be given an administrative punishment by the price administrative department in accordance with the Price Law of the People's Republic of China. Article 44. Anyone who is under any of the following circumstances shall be ordered to get right, shall be given a warning, and may be fined less than 200, 000 yuan by the food administrative department; if the circumstance is serious, the food administrative department shall suspend or cancel its food purchase qualification: (1) A food purchaser fails to comply with the national food quality standards; (2) A food purchaser fails to timely make payments for foods and it is so informed by the food seller(s); (3) A food seller withholds any tax, fee or other items by violating the present Regulation; (4) A business operator engaged in the purchase, sale, storage or processing of foods, or an enterprise of feedstuffs or industry-oriented foods fails to establish food business account books, or fails to report the basic data and relevant information in accordance with the relevant regulations; or (5) A food business operator engaged in purchasing and selling policy foods upon entrustment fails to comply with pertinent policies of the state. Article 45. Anyone who fails to conduct out-of-storage inspection over the quality of food by violating the present Regulation shall be ordered to get right and be given a warning by the food administrative department; if the circumstance is serious, it shall be fined twice up to quintuple the value of the out-of-storage foods, and its business license may be revoked by the administrative department for industry and commerce. With regard to anyone who scalps decayed foods or fails to use the decayed foods by violating the relevant provisions, the illegally scalped foods shall be confiscated by the administrative department for industry and commerce and he or it shall be fined up to 20 % of the value of the said foods. If he or it has the qualification for purchasing decayed foods, his or its purchase qualification shall be canceled by the administrative department of the provincial people's government. If the circumstance is serious, he or it shall be fined twice up to quintuple the value of the illegally scalped food and his or its business license shall be revoked by the administrative department for industry and commerce. If any crime is constituted, it shall be subject to criminal liabilities. Article 46. Where the stock of a business operator engaged in the purchase, processing or distribution of foods is less than the prescribed minimum stock, the food administrative department shall order this business operator to get right and give it a warning; it the circumstance is serious, it shall impose a fine of twice up to quintuple the value of the foods in shortage and may cancel its food purchase qualification. Moreover, the administrative department of industry and commerce may revoke its business license. Where the stock of a business operator engaged in the purchase, processing or distribution of foods is less than the prescribed maximum stock, the food administrative department shall order this business operator to get right and give it a warning; it the circumstance is serious, it shall impose a fine of twice up to quintuple the value of the excessive foods and may cancel its food purchase qualification, moreover, the administrative department of industry and commerce may revoke its business license. Article 47. A food business operator who fails to use food storage facilities or transportation tools by violating the present Regulation shall be ordered to get right by the food administrative department or health department. The polluted foods shall not be sold or processed illegally. Article 48. Anyone who violates Articles 17 and 18 of the present Regulation shall be punished by the product quality supervision department, administrative department for industry and commerce and health department in pursuance of relevant laws and administrative regulations. Article 49. A department of public finance who fails to timely appropriate full amount of subsidy funds, or occupy, retain or misappropriate the subsidy funds by violating the provisions of the state on the management of food risk fund shall be ordered to get right by the people's government at the same level or by its superior department of public finance. The relevant liable persons shall be given an administrative sanction; if any crime is constituted, they shall be subject to criminal liabilities. Article 50. Anyone who hinders the free circulation of food by violating the present Regulation shall be punished in accordance with the Provisions of the State Council on Banning Regional Blockade in Market Economic Activities. Article 51. A supervisor or inspector who illegally intervenes the normal business activities of any business operators shall be given an administrative sanction; if any crime is constituted, he (she) shall be subject to criminal liabilities. CHAPTER VI SUPPLEMENTARY PROVISIONS Article 52. The following terms mentioned in the present Regulation shall be defined as: Food purchase refers to the activities of purchasing food in batch directly from food growers or other food producers. Food processing refers to the activities of changing the unprocessed food into semi-finished food and finished food, or changing the semi-finished food to finished food. Article 53. The provisions of the present Regulation shall, except for those in Articles 8, 9 and 10, apply to the business operations relating to the purchase, sale, storage, transportation, processing, import and export of soybeans, oil plants and edible plant oil. The management of import and export of food shall be implemented in accordance with relevant laws and administrative regulations. The management of central food reserves shall be implemented in accordance with the Regulations on the Administration of Central Food Reserves. Article 54. The present Regulation shall be implemented as of the date of promulgation. The Regulation on Food Purchases issued by the State Council on June 6, 1998 and the Measures for Punishing the Illegal Acts in Food Dealings issued by the State Council on August 5, 1998 shall be simultaneously abolished. |
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