The General Office of the State Council has recently distributed the Circular on Matters Concerning Comprehensive Administrative Law Enforcement in Agriculture (the "Circular").
The Circular touches upon actions in seven aspects, including stepping up the regulation, at the source, of administrative penalties and compulsory administrative measures in the area of agriculture. Among others, the Circular expressly states that for administrative law enforcement items on the Guiding Catalog of Comprehensive Administrative Law Enforcement Items for Agriculture, administrative law enforcement items and management systems should be differentiated and the subjects with the primary responsibilities should be clearly defined according to actualities, so as to consolidate the responsibility for investigating and dealing with unlawful practices. Shifting the responsibility for law enforcement to the primary-level organs in the name of territorial jurisdiction will be strictly prohibited. Entities and individuals will be held accountable under the discipline and law, if they fail to perform their duties as required. Meanwhile, active efforts will be made to promote the "internet plus unified instructions and comprehensive law enforcement" initiative, enhance inter-departmental joint actions and coordination, and step by step, make the entire process of administrative law enforcement, including administrative law enforcement acts, steps and results, traceable online. The Circular also calls for efforts to keep open the channels for accepting complaints, following up and checking law enforcement and giving feedback, adding that market entities, the general public, social organizations and news media are encouraged to oversee administrative law enforcement acts.