The General Office of the Ministry of Transport ("MOT") has recently issued the Implementing Rules for the Administration by the List of Subjects with Serious Dishonesty in the Waterway Transport Sector (for Trial Implementation) (Draft for Comment) (the "Draft for Comment") to solicit opinions from the units concerned by July 20, 2018.
According to the Draft for Comment, in the event that a practitioner falls under any of six circumstances, including "where the practitioner seriously violates relevant laws and regulations and thus the concerned administrative department of transport cancels his or her business qualification or revokes his or her permit", the administrative department of transport at or above the county level shall, under the principle of "letting whoever imposes the punishment take charge of identifying the serious dishonesty", bring this practitioner into the list of subjects with serious dishonesty. Meanwhile, the Draft for Comment stipulates that where the dishonest behaviors of subjects have not been identified as the serious dishonesty yet and such subjects are ordered to make corrections within designated time limits or go through the supplementary record-filing formalities, the administrative departments of transport shall list them as closely-watched targets and intensify oversight. The administration by the list of subjects with serious dishonesty will be valid for three years from the issue date of such list. Also, the Draft for Comment expressly states that subjects of bad faith are encouraged to recover their own credit standing by voluntarily correcting the dishonest behaviors, eliminating negative social influences or otherwise.