Administrative Measures for Certification Agencies (Revised in 2015)
Administrative Measures for Certification Agencies (Revised in 2015)
Administrative Measures for Certification Agencies (Revised in 2015)
Order of the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine No.164
May 11, 2015
(Promulgated by Order of the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine No.141 on July 20, 2011, and revised in accordance with the Decision of the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine on Revising the Administrative Measures for Certification Agencies on May 11, 2015)
Chapter I General Provisions
Article 1 For the purposes of strengthening the supervision and administration over certification agencies, standardizing the certification activities, and improving the certification effectiveness, the Administrative Measures for Certification Agencies (hereinafter referred to as the "Measures") are formulated in accordance with the Regulations of the People's Republic of China on Certification and Accreditation (hereinafter referred to as the "Regulations on Certification and Accreditation") and other relevant laws and administrative regulations.
Article 2 For the purpose of the Measures, certification agencies refer to those agencies with corporate status which are formed upon approval in accordance with the law and independently engaged in activities of appraising the conformity of products, services and management systems to standards and relevant technical norms.
Article 3 The Measures shall apply to the certification activities carried out within the territory of the People's Republic of China and the supervision and administration over the certification agencies.
Article 4 The General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine (hereinafter referred to as the "AQSIQ") is uniformly responsible for the supervision and administration over the certification agencies.
The Certification and Accreditation Administration (hereinafter referred to as the "CNCA") is responsible for the supervision and administration over the establishment and related approval of certification agencies and the practice of certification agencies.
The quality and technology supervision authorities of the people's governments of provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the Central Government (hereinafter referred to as the "provincial-level quality and technology supervision authorities") and the entry-exit inspection and quarantine authorities directly under the AQSIQ (hereinafter referred to as the "inspection and quarantine authorities") are responsible respectively for the supervision and administration over the certification activities carried out within the regions under their respective jurisdiction based upon the division of their respective duties in accordance with the Measures.
Article 5 Certification agencies shall carry out certification activities in accordance with the principles of fairness and openness, independence and objectiveness, and good faith to safeguard the social credit system.
Article 6 Certification agencies and their staff shall keep confidentiality of all and any national secrets, trade secrets and know-how known from the business.
Chapter II Establishment and Approval
Article 7 The certification agencies to be established shall obtain the status of legal person in accordance with the law and may conduct certification activities within the scope approved only after being approved by the CNCA.
Without approval, no entity or individual may conduct certification activities.
Article 8 The establishment of a certification agency shall be subject to following conditions:
1. the certification agency shall have fixed office premises and necessary facilities;
2. the certification agency shall have articles of association and management system satisfactory to certification and accreditation requirements;
3. the certification agency shall have registered capital of not less than CNY3 million;
4. the certification agency shall have not less than ten full-time certification staff members in corresponding fields;
5. the president, general manager (director) and representatives of managers of the certification agency (hereinafter collectively referred to as the "senior officers") shall satisfy the requirements set forth in relevant laws and regulations of the State and the relevant provisions of the AQSIQ and the CNCA, and shall be equipped with the managerial competence necessary for performing their duties; and
6. other conditions required by laws and regulations.
Certification agencies conducting product certification activities shall also be equipped with the testing, examination and other technical capacities compatible with the product certification activities conducted.
Article 9 The establishment of a certification agency within the territory of China by foreign investors shall, in addition to the conditions set forth in Article 8 hereof, be subject to following conditions:
1. foreign investors shall be institutions with at least three years of certification experience in relevant fields outside the territory of China, and shall be legally registered at the relevant competent authorities of the country or region where they are located and have no bad record; and
2. foreign investors shall obtain the accreditation of corresponding fields by the accreditation institutions in the country or region where they are located, or be acknowledged by relevant competent authorities.
Foreign investors shall, upon establishing certification agencies within the territory of China, also satisfy the provisions of foreign investment related laws, administrative regulations, and the national industrial guiding policies relating to foreign investment.
Article 10 Approval procedures for establishment of certification agencies:
1. the applicants for establishment of certification agencies (hereinafter referred to as the "applicants") shall make applications to the CNCA and submit the effective supporting documents and data as required in Articles 8 and 9 hereof;
2. the CNCA shall conduct preliminary review of the application materials submitted by the applicants, and shall make written decisions on whether the application is accepted or not within five days as of the date of receiving the application materials, and shall, in the event that the application materials are not complete or in the form as required by the law, inform once the applicants of all contents necessary to be supplemented;
3. the CNCA shall, within 45 days as of the date of accepting an application for establishment of certification agencies, make decisions on whether the application is approved. If the application is approved, the Approval for Certification Agency shall be given to the applicants; if the application is disapproved, a written notice shall be given to the applicants, stating the reasons;
4. the CNCA may organize relevant experts to review the certification, testing and other technical capacities of the applicants as required. The time for expert review shall not be more than 30 days, which shall not be included in the term for approval by the CNCA; and
5. the CNCA shall publicize to the public and release on its website the directory of certification agencies established in accordance with the law.
The CNCA shall follow the principles of reasonable allocation of resources, convenience and high-efficiency, transparency and openness during implementing the approval of certification agencies.
Article 11 The effective term of the Approval for Certification Agency is six years.
Certification agencies shall, if intending to renew the effective term of the Approval for Certification Agency, make applications to the CNCA 30 days prior to the expiration of the effective term of the Approval for Certification Agency.
The CNCA shall conduct written review of the applications for renewal filed by certification agencies in accordance with the establishment conditions and approval procedures as set forth herein, and shall make decisions on whether the renewal is approved prior to the expiration of the effective term of the Approval for Certification Agency.
Article 12 The subsidiaries to be established by any certification agency shall get registered with the company registration authorities in accordance with the law and may conduct certification activities within the scope approved only after being approved by the CNCA pursuant to the provisions of Articles 8 and 10 of the Measures.
Article 13 Certification agencies may establish working offices to publicize and promote the business in the scope approved.
Article 14 Foreign certification agencies may establish representative offices in China to publicize and promote the business within their business scope.
Article 15 Any certification agency shall, upon subcontracting certification business of a foreign certification agency whose certification results are used overseas by means of contracts, obtain the practice approval for corresponding certification fields in advance, file with the CNCA within ten days as of the date of signing the contacts, and bear the corresponding certification risks and liabilities.
Article 16 Any certification agency shall make an application to the CNCA for handling relevant formalities for changes in accordance with the law in the event of any one of following situations:
1.
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