The Ministry of Public Security ("MPS") has recently issued the Administrative Regulations on Public Security in the Seal Industry (Draft for Public Comment) (the "Draft for Comment") for public consultation by March 13, 2018.
The Draft for Comment, consisting of 63 articles in six chapters, sets out the administration of entities making seals, administration of seals, supervision and administration, legal liability, and other content. According to the Draft for Comment, an entity applying for the seal making license shall fulfill seven requirements, including "having a legal, fixed and independent business premise". Wholly foreign-invested enterprises, Sino-foreign cooperative businesses and joint ventures are banned from doing the seal making business specified in these Regulations. In addition, the Draft for Comment expressly states that any entity or individual shall not carve a seal in private. Also, any entity or individual, except entities or institutions using seals as well as their employees, shall not handle the seal making business on a commission basis for others. To provide seal makers with advertising services, mass media shall check whether they have legal qualifications, and they are prohibited from offering advertising services to unlawful seal makers.