Recently, 27 authorities, including the State Administration for Industry and Commerce ("SAIC"), have jointly issued the Guiding Opinions on Launching Campaigns to Achieve Safety in Consumption and Creating the Safe and Reassuring Consumption Environment (the "Opinions").
The Opinions specify the need to take better records of quality-related violations and improve the system of having these violations publicly announced, release more government information such as the administrative penalties, fully put in place requirements on the liability for fixing, replacing and returning automobiles and other products, and exploring ways of establishing the mechanism to resolve disputes over the quality guaranteed by third-parties. Also, the Opinions require guiding business operators to execute regimes in respect of the inspection of purchased goods, ledgers for purchased (sold) goods, guarantee of commodities' quality, withdrawal of substandard commodities from the market, and replacement and refund of problematic goods, and encouraging online trading platforms, large chain businesses and other business operators to make commitments to protect consumers' rights and interests higher than standards required by law and promote the system of first call resolution and advance payment of compensation by business operators in the consumption process in all respects. Furthermore, the Opinions expressly state that efforts shall be stepped up to achieve the safety in consumption in some key industries and sectors, including the food and drug sector, information consumption sector and the finance sector.