Gansu Provincial Administration for Market Regulation

Regulations on the Functional Configuration, Internal Structure, and Staffing of the Gansu Provincial Administration for Market Regulation (Intellectual Property Office)

Article 1 These Regulations are formulated in accordance with the “Notice of the General Office of the CPC Central Committee and the General Office of the State Council on Issuing the Gansu Provincial Institutional Reform Plan” (Hall Document [2018] No. 120).

Article 2 The Gansu Provincial Administration for Market Regulation (hereinafter referred to as the Provincial Administration) is a department-level agency directly under the Provincial Government. It also serves as the Office of the Provincial Food Safety Commission and the Provincial Intellectual Property Office.

Article 3 The Provincial Administration implements the policies, decisions, and deployments of the Party Central Committee and the Provincial Party Committee regarding market supervision and regulation. In performing its duties, it upholds and strengthens the Party's centralized and unified leadership over market supervision and regulation. Its primary responsibilities are:

(1) Overseeing comprehensive market supervision and management. Implementing national laws, regulations, and policies on market supervision; drafting local regulations, provincial government rules, and relevant policies on market supervision. Implementing strategies for quality-driven development, food safety, and standardization; formulating and implementing related plans; regulating and maintaining market order; fostering a market environment characterized by integrity and fair competition.

(2) Oversee unified registration of market entities. Guide the registration of all types of enterprises, farmer cooperatives, business units, individual industrial and commercial households, and permanent representative offices of foreign (regional) enterprises across the province. Establish mechanisms for public disclosure and sharing of market entity information, disclose and share relevant information in accordance with the law, strengthen credit-based regulation, and promote the development of a market entity credit system.

(3) Organize and guide comprehensive market regulation enforcement. Direct the integration and development of the province's comprehensive market regulation enforcement teams to advance unified market oversight. Investigate and handle major violation cases. Standardize administrative law enforcement practices in market regulation.

(4) Oversee unified antitrust enforcement. Coordinate the implementation of competition policies and organize the fair competition review system. Conduct antitrust reviews of business concentration activities in accordance with the law and authorized powers. Handle antitrust enforcement matters including monopolistic agreements, abuse of market dominance, and abuse of administrative power to exclude or restrict competition. Guide enterprises in defending against antitrust lawsuits abroad.

(5) Oversee market order. Supervise market transactions, online commodity transactions, and related services in accordance with the law. Organize and guide investigations into violations of pricing and fee regulations, unfair competition, illegal direct selling, pyramid schemes, infringement of trademark and patent intellectual property rights, and the manufacture and sale of counterfeit and shoddy goods. Organize and guide investigations into unlicensed production and operation activities and related uncertified production and operation activities. Guide the development of the advertising industry and supervise advertising activities. Guide the Provincial Consumers Association in conducting consumer rights protection work.

(VI) Oversee macro-level quality management. Formulate and implement institutional measures for quality development. Coordinate the construction and application of the provincial quality infrastructure. Collaborate with relevant departments to implement the quality supervision system for major engineering equipment. Organize investigations into major quality incidents. Implement the defective product recall system. Supervise and manage product anti-counterfeiting efforts.

(VII) Oversee product quality and safety supervision. Manage provincial-level product quality and safety risk monitoring and supervisory sampling. Implement the quality grading system and quality safety traceability system. Manages industrial product production licensing. Oversees fiber quality supervision.

(8) Oversees special equipment safety supervision. Comprehensively manages special equipment safety inspections and supervision, monitoring compliance with energy-saving standards for high-energy-consuming special equipment and environmental protection standards for boilers.

(9) Coordinates comprehensive food safety supervision. Implements major food safety policies and organizes their execution. Builds food safety emergency response systems, directs emergency handling and investigation of major food safety incidents, and establishes direct reporting mechanisms for critical food safety information. Undertakes the daily operations of the Provincial Food Safety Commission.

(10) Oversees food safety supervision and management. Establishes and implements a comprehensive inspection system and hazard investigation and management mechanism covering the entire process of food production, distribution, and consumption to prevent regional and systemic food safety risks. Promotes the establishment of mechanisms for food producers and operators to fulfill their primary responsibilities and improves the food safety traceability system. Organizes and implements food safety supervision sampling, risk monitoring, verification and disposal, risk warning, and risk communication. Implements the registration, filing, and supervision of special foods.

(11) Oversee unified management of measurement. Promote the use of legal measurement units and the national measurement system; manage measuring instruments and ensure traceability and calibration of measurement values.

(12) Oversee unified management of standardization. Advance the implementation and enforcement of mandatory national standards. Legally undertake the establishment, numbering, and approval of local standards. Legally coordinate, guide, and supervise the development of local and group standards.

(13) Oversee unified management of inspection and testing. Advance reforms of inspection and testing institutions, regulate the inspection and testing market, improve the inspection and testing system, and guide and coordinate the development of the inspection and testing industry.

(14) Oversee unified management, supervision, and comprehensive coordination of certification and accreditation. Implement the national unified certification and accreditation system and conformity assessment supervision and management system.

(15) Oversee science and technology development, informatization, publicity, and international exchange and cooperation in market supervision and management. Undertake work related to technical trade measures as stipulated.

(16) Oversee the unified management of intellectual property. Implement the provincial intellectual property strategy, manage intellectual property protection, creation, and utilization, establish a public service system for intellectual property, and coordinate foreign-related intellectual property matters.

(17) Administer the Provincial Drug Administration.

(18) Complete other tasks assigned by the Provincial Party Committee, Provincial Government, and the State Administration for Market Regulation.

(19) Functional Transformation.

1. Vigorously Promote Quality Enhancement. Strengthen comprehensive quality management and the construction of the provincial quality infrastructure system. Improve quality incentive mechanisms and advance brand development. Accelerate the establishment of mandatory reporting systems for product quality and safety incidents, as well as first-inquiry and advance compensation systems for operators. Innovate third-party quality evaluation, reinforce the primary responsibility of producers and operators, and promote advanced quality management methods. Fully implement the self-declaration and supervision system for enterprise product and service standards. Cultivate and develop technologically advanced group standards to elevate the overall level of provincial standards, using standardization to drive the construction of a quality-driven province.

2. Deepen Administrative Streamlining. Advance commercial system reforms by overhauling enterprise name approval and market entity exit mechanisms. Deepen the “separation of licenses and permits” reform, promote “reducing permits after licensing,” and shorten enterprise establishment timelines. Accelerate market-oriented and socialized reforms of inspection and testing institutions. Further reduce evaluation-based benchmarking, recognition-based rewards, and demonstration creation activities while cutting administrative approval items to optimize the business environment.

3. Strictly uphold safety standards. Adhere to the principle of “the most stringent standards, the strictest supervision, the most severe penalties, and the most serious accountability.” Strengthen regulatory oversight of food safety, industrial product quality, and special equipment safety in accordance with the law. Intensify on-site inspections, severely punish violations, and effectively prevent systemic risks to ensure the public can purchase, use, and consume products with confidence.

4. Strengthen mid- and post-event supervision. Accelerate the elimination of regulations and practices that hinder the unified market and fair competition. Enhance unified enforcement against monopolies and unfair competition. Strengthen regulation based on standards and risk-based supervision. Fully implement the “double random, one public” approach and “Internet Plus Supervision,” accelerate the sharing of regulatory information, and build a new market supervision system centered on information disclosure and credit-based regulation.

5. Improve service levels. Accelerate the integration of dedicated hotlines for consumer complaints, quality supervision reports, food and drug complaints, intellectual property complaints, and price reports. Promote the streamlining of market entities' entire lifecycle from entry to exit. Proactively serve the development of new technologies, industries, business models, and formats. Utilize big data to enhance services for market entities. Actively serve individual businesses, private enterprises, and the public to foster mass entrepreneurship and innovation. (XX) Division of Responsibilities.

1. Division of Responsibilities with the Provincial Public Security Department. The Provincial Market Regulation Bureau and the Provincial Public Security Department shall establish a coordination mechanism for administrative law enforcement and criminal justice. Where the Provincial Market Regulation Bureau discovers illegal activities suspected of constituting crimes, it shall promptly transfer the case to the public security authorities in accordance with relevant regulations. The public security authorities shall promptly review the case and decide whether to file a case or decline to do so in accordance with the law. Where the public security authorities lawfully request the Provincial Market Regulation Bureau to assist in inspection, appraisal, or identification, the Provincial Market Regulation Bureau shall provide such assistance.

2. Division of Responsibilities with the Provincial Department of Industry and Information Technology. The Provincial Department of Industry and Information Technology is responsible for the administration of the salt industry, formulating salt industry development plans and industrial policies, developing and implementing emergency response plans for salt supply, and implementing the salt reserve system. The Provincial Administration for Market Regulation undertakes the functions of salt quality and safety supervision and the administration of the salt monopoly system, responsible for market supervision and law enforcement regarding salt throughout the province, as well as organizing the issuance of designated salt production permits and wholesale permits.

3. Division of Responsibilities with the Provincial Department of Agriculture and Rural Affairs. The Provincial Department of Agriculture and Rural Affairs is responsible for the quality and safety supervision of edible agricultural products from the cultivation and breeding stages until they enter wholesale, retail markets, or production and processing enterprises. Once edible agricultural products enter wholesale, retail markets, or production and processing enterprises, supervision and management fall under the Provincial Market Regulation Administration. The Provincial Department of Agriculture and Rural Affairs is responsible for the supervision and management of plant disease prevention and control. Both departments shall establish mechanisms for food safety origin exit, market entry, and traceability, strengthen coordination and cooperation, and form a synergistic regulatory force.

4. Division of responsibilities with the Provincial Health Commission. The Provincial Health Commission is responsible for food safety risk assessment and shall formulate and implement food safety risk monitoring plans in conjunction with the Provincial Market Regulation Bureau and other relevant departments. Upon discovering potential food safety hazards through risk monitoring or reports, the Provincial Health Commission shall immediately organize inspections and food safety risk assessments, promptly notify the Provincial Market Regulation Bureau of the assessment results, and require the Provincial Market Regulation Bureau to take immediate measures for foods deemed unsafe. Where the Provincial Market Regulation Bureau identifies the need for food safety risk assessment during its supervision and management work, it shall promptly propose recommendations to the Provincial Health Commission.

5. Division of responsibilities with Lanzhou Customs. The two departments shall establish mechanisms to avoid duplicate inspections, duplicate fees, and duplicate penalties for various imported and exported commodities, food products, and cosmetics, thereby reducing the burden on enterprises. Lanzhou Customs is responsible for the supervision and management of imported food safety.

Imported food and food-related products shall comply with China's national food safety standards. When food safety incidents occurring overseas may impact our province, or when serious food safety issues are discovered in imported food, Lanzhou Customs shall promptly implement risk warnings or control measures and notify the Provincial Market Regulation Bureau, which shall take corresponding measures in a timely manner. The two departments shall establish a mechanism for sharing information on defective imported goods and for collaboration. When Lanzhou Customs discovers non-compliant or potentially hazardous imported goods during port inspection and supervision, it shall implement technical processing, return, or destruction in accordance with the law and notify the Provincial Market Regulation Bureau. The Provincial Market Regulation Bureau shall centrally manage defective product recalls. Upon learning of defects in imported goods through consumer reports, accident investigations, injury monitoring, etc., it shall implement recall measures in accordance with the law. For entities refusing to fulfill recall obligations, the Provincial Market Regulation Bureau shall notify Lanzhou Customs, which shall take corresponding measures in accordance with the law.

6. Division of responsibilities with the Provincial Bureau of Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Medicine. The Provincial Bureau of Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Medicine is responsible for the quality and safety supervision of animal products from the breeding stage until they enter wholesale/retail markets or production/processing enterprises. Once animal products enter wholesale/retail markets or production/processing enterprises, supervision falls under the Provincial Market Regulation Bureau. The Provincial Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Bureau is responsible for animal disease prevention and control, quality and safety supervision of the livestock and poultry slaughtering process, and the production and collection of raw milk. Both departments shall establish mechanisms for animal product safety origin release, market access, and traceability, strengthen coordination and collaboration, and form a synergistic regulatory force.

7. Division of Responsibilities with the Provincial Drug Administration. The Provincial Drug Administration is responsible for licensing, inspection, and penalties related to the production of drugs, medical devices, and cosmetics; as well as licensing for drug wholesalers, retail chain headquarters, and record-filing, inspection, and penalties for third-party internet sales platforms. Market regulation departments at the municipal and county levels are responsible for licensing, inspection, and penalties related to drug retail and medical device operations; as well as inspection and penalties concerning the quality of cosmetics operations and the use of drugs and medical devices.

Article 4 The Provincial Market Regulation Bureau shall establish the following internal departments.

Article 5 The Provincial Market Regulation Bureau has 321 administrative positions and 30 public institution positions. The number of departmental leadership positions shall be separately stipulated, with 129 division-level leadership positions (including 1 Chief Engineer, 1 Food Safety Director, 4 Market Inspection Commissioners, and 1 full-time Deputy Secretary of the Party Committee).

Article 6 The Provincial Market Regulation Bureau shall establish a Logistics Service Center with 30 public institution positions and 3 division-level leadership positions.

Article 7: The establishment, responsibilities, and staffing matters of public institutions affiliated with the Provincial Market Regulation Bureau shall be separately stipulated.

Article 8: The Office of the Provincial Party Committee's Institutional and Staffing Committee shall be responsible for the specific interpretation of these provisions. Any adjustments to these provisions shall be handled by the Office of the Provincial Party Committee's Institutional and Staffing Committee in accordance with prescribed procedures.

Article 9: These provisions shall come into effect on January 11, 2019.