Recently, the General Office of the China Food and Drug Administration ("CFDA") has issued 13 informatization standards relating to the regulation of food production and operation, including the Reference Business Processes on the Administration of Food Business Licensing (Draft for Comment) (the "Draft for Comment"), for public consultation by December 15, 2017.
The Draft for Comment describes in detail the division of authorities in respect of the administration of food business licensing, the licensing scope, applying for altering the food business license, applying for renewing the food business license , applying for a license replacement, and applying for deregistering the food business license, formalities to deregister the food business license, and other basic businesses. Further, the Draft for Comment clearly states that the food business licensing, including the food sales licensing and the catering services licensing, shall comply with the principle of "one license associated with only one business operation place". In addition, the Draft for Comment gives a detailed description to five types of licensing administration, namely the administration of issuing new licenses, the administration of having the license altered, the administration of having the license renewed, the administration of issuing the license replacement, and the administration of having the license deregistered, expounding on the reference business processes for each type of administration, including the application, acceptance of applications, review of applications, and decision-making.