The China Food and Drug Administration ("CFDA") has recently drafted the Rules of Evidence in Food and Drug Supervision and Law Enforcement Activities (Draft for Comment) (the "Draft for Comment") for public consultation by January 6, 2018.
The Draft for Comment, comprised of 60 articles in nine chapters, provides for the "collection of evidence", "responsibility for evidence and standards of proof", "reviews of evidence", "proving effects of evidence", "storage and disposition of evidence", "evidence requirements for the connection between administrative law enforcement and criminal justice", etc. The Draft for Comment clearly specifies that food and drug administrations shall undertake the responsibility for justifying administrative law enforcement of food and drugs in most cases, and only on a few occasions will such responsibility be undertaken by the administrative counterparts. Where an administrative counterpart files an application with the food and drug administration for a particular administrative act according to the law, such counterpart shall be mainly responsible for justifying the administrative act, and the food and drug administration shall review the application and verify relevant particulars ex-officio. Furthermore, reports formed for unannounced inspections are superior to those for inspections performed on reserved samples or samples provided by relevant parties, according to the Draft for Comment.