Tuesday, July 14, 2009

Administrative Measures for the Safety of Places of Origin of Agricultural Products

Order of the Ministry of Agriculture
(No. 71)

The Administrative Measures for the Safety of Places of Origin of Agricultural Products, which were adopted at the 25th executive meeting of the Ministry of Agriculture on September 30, 2006, are hereby promulgated and shall come into force as of November 1, 2006.

Minister Du Qinglin

October 17, 2006

Administrative Measures for the Safety of Places of Origin of Agricultural Products
Chapter I General Provisions

Article 1 For the purposes of strengthening the administration of places of origin of agricultural products, improving the conditions of the places of origin and ensuring the safety of places of origin, these Measures are formulated in accordance with the Law of the People’s Republic of China on Agricultural Product Quality Safety.

Article 2 The term “places of origin of agricultural products” refers to the relevant regions, in which the plants, animals and microbes as well as their products are produced.

The term “safety of places of agricultural products” means that the quality of the soil, water body and atmosphere environment of the places of origin of agricultural products meet the requirements for the production of agricultural products of safe quality.

Article 3 The Ministry of Agriculture shall be responsible for the supervision and administration of the safety of places of origin of agricultural products.

The agriculture administrative departments of the people’s governments at the county level and above shall be responsible for the demarcation, supervision and administration of the places of origin of agricultural products within their respective administrative area.

Chapter II Monitoring and Evaluation of Places of Origin

Article 4 An agriculture administrative department of the people’s government at the county level or above shall establish a sound system of monitoring the safety of places of origin of agricultural products, intensify the investigation, monitoring and evaluation of the safety of places of origin of agricultural products, work out annual reports on the status and development trend of the safety of places of origin of agricultural products and submit the said reports to the agriculture administrative department of the next higher level for archival purposes.

Article 5 An agriculture administrative department of the people’s government at the province level or above shall set up state-level and province-level monitoring points in the following areas so as to monitor the dynamic changes of the safety of places of origin of agricultural products and direct the administration and production of the safety of places of origin of agricultural products.
(1)The production areas of agricultural products around industrial and mining enterprises;
(2)The sewage irrigation areas;
(3)The production areas of agricultural products in suburbs of big and medium cities;
(4)The production areas of important agricultural products; and
(5)Other areas necessary to be monitored.

Article 6 The technical norms such as the relevant national standards shall be observed in the investigation, monitoring and evaluation of the safety of places of origin of agricultural products.

The establishment, change and revocation of a monitoring point shall be subject to expert evaluation.

Article 7 An agriculture administrative department at the county level or above shall strengthen the collection of information about the safety of places of origin of agricultural products and shall establish complete monitoring archives of the safety of places of origin of agricultural products.

The monitoring archives shall exactly record the changes of the status of the safety of places of origin of agricultural products and shall preserve such records for a long time.

Chapter III Demarcation and Adjustment of Prohibited Production Areas

Article 8 If the toxic and harmful substances in a place of origin of agricultural products do not meet the standards on the safety of places of origin and if they cause that the toxic and harmful substances in the agricultural products do not meet the agricultural product quality safety standards, it shall be demarcated as a prohibited agricultural product production area.

An areas prohibited to produce edible agricultural products may produce non-edible agricultural products.

Article 9 In case of the circumstance as mentioned in Article 8 of these Measures, the agriculture administrative department of the people’s government at the county level or above shall put forward a suggestion on the demarcation of prohibited production area and shall submit it to the agriculture administrative department at the province level. The agriculture administrative department at the province level shall organize an expert evaluation, and report the following materials to the people’s government for approval and make an announcement upon approval.
(1)The monitoring result of the safety of place of origin and the testing result of agricultural products;
(2)The report on the monitoring and evaluation of the safety of place of origin, including analyses of the pollution causes, pertinence between the place of origin and the agricultural product pollution, evaluation method and conclusion;
(3)The report of expert evaluation; and
(4)The suggestions on the agricultural production structure and the relevant settlement measures.

Article 10 After the demarcation of a prohibited production area, the nature of the cultivation land or basic farm shall not be changed. The compensation standards on the requisition of farm land shall not be lowered.

Article 11 The agriculture administrative department of the people’s government at the county level shall erect a signpost in a prohibited production area, which shall indicate the location of the prohibited production area, boundaries, area, types of agricultural products prohibited to be produced, main pollutants, approval entity, date of erection of the signpost, etc.

No entity or individual may illegally move away or destroy any signpost.

Article 12 After the safety status of prohibited production area is improved and meets the relevant standards, the agriculture administrative department of the people’s government at the county level or above shall timely put forward an adjustment suggestion.

The adjustment of a prohibited production area shall be made in accordance with Article 9 of these Measures. Where a prohibited production area is adjusted, the content of the signpost shall be changed or the signpost shall be removed.

Article 13 An agriculture administrative department of the people’s government at the county level or above shall timely submit the results of demarcation and adjustment of the prohibited agricultural product production areas within its administrative area to the Ministry of Agriculture for archival purposes.

Chapter IV Protection of Places of Origin

Article 14 An agriculture administrative department of the people’s government at the county level or above shall popularize the clean production technologies and methods and develop dynamic agriculture.

Article 15 An agriculture administrative department of the people’s government at the county level or above shall work out a plan on the pollution prevention and protection of places of origin of agricultural products and integrate it into its plan on development of agriculture and rural economy.

Article 16 An agriculture administrative department of the people’s government at the county level or above shall take biological, chemical and engineering measures to recover and administer a prohibited agricultural product production area or any other agricultural product production area in which the toxic and harmful substances do not satisfy the standards on the origin of places.

Article 17 An agriculture administrative department of the people’s government at the county level or above shall take measures to intensify the scientific research, technology popularization and publicity and training regarding the recovery and administration of polluted places of origin.

Article 18 The environmental impact evaluation document on an agricultural construction project shall, upon examination and approval of the agriculture administrative department of the people’s government at the county level or above, be submitted to the relevant department for examination and approval.

Where any established enterprise or project pollutes a place of origin of agricultural products, the agriculture administrative department of the local people’s government shall apply with the people’s government at the same level for taking measures to decrease or eliminate the pollution damage.

Article 19 No entity or individual may produce, fish or gather any prohibited edible agricultural products from or establish production base of agricultural products in any prohibited production area.

Article 20 Any entity or individual is prohibited to emit or dump any exhaust gas, waste water, solid waste or any other toxic or harmful substance to any place of origin of agricultural products.

It is prohibited to pile, store or dispose any industrial solid waste in any place of origin of agricultural products. Where industrial solid waste is piled, stored or disposed around any place of origin of agricultural products, effective measures shall be taken to prevent any damage to the safety of place of origin of agricultural products.

Article 21 Where an entity or individual offers or uses urban trash, sewage sludge or any other solid waste as agricultural water or fertilizer, it shall make innocuous treatment of the said solid waste and shall make it conform to the relevant standards of the state.

Article 22 An agricultural product producer shall reasonably use fertilizer, pesticide, veterinary medicine, feed, feed additive, agricultural films and other agricultural inputs. It is prohibited to use any agricultural input which is clearly banned by the state or is obsolete or is unlicensed.

An agricultural product producer shall timely eliminate, re-collect agricultural films, packing materials of agricultural inputs, etc. so as to prevent them from polluting the environment of place of origin of agricultural products.

Chapter V Supervision and Inspection

Article 23 An agriculture administrative department at the county level or above shall be responsible for the supervision and inspection of the safety of places of origin of agricultural products.

Where an agriculture administrative law enforcer performs the supervision and inspection duties, he shall show his administrative law enforcement certificate to the entity or individual to be inspected. The relevant entity or individual shall faithfully provide the pertinent information and materials, shall not reject the inspection or provide any false information.

Article 24 Where an agriculture administrative department of the people’s government at the county level or above finds that a place of origin of agricultural products is endangered by pollution, it shall order the entity or individual causing such pollution to take measures to reduce or eliminate the pollution. If the said entity or individual refuses to do so, that shall be reported to the people’s government at the same level to punish it (him).

Where any pollution accident takes place in a place of origin of agricultural products, the agriculture administrative department of the people’s government at the county level or above shall investigate and deal with it.

For any emergency of pollution to the agricultural environment, it shall be tackled according to the plan on the emergencies of pollution to the agricultural environment.

Article 25 The operating funds for the monitoring, supervision and inspection of the safety of places of origin shall be integrated into the annual budget of the agriculture administrative department of the people’s government at the same level. No entity or individual inspected may be charged any fee for the monitoring, supervision and inspection of the safety of places of origin.

Article 26 Any prohibited production area, which is demarcated by violating the Law of the People’s Republic of China on the Agricultural Product Quality Safety and these Measures, shall be null and void.

Where anyone violates these Measures because of illegally moving away or destroying the signpost of any prohibited production area, the agriculture administrative department of the local people’s government at the county level or above shall order it to make a correction and may fine it (him) 1, 000 yuan or less.

Any other violator of these Measures shall be punished in accordance with the relevant laws and regulations.

Chapter VI Supplementary Provisions

Article 27 These Measures shall come into force as of November 1, 2006.

Measures for the Administration of Geographical Indications of Agricultural Products

Order of the Ministry of Agriculture
(No.11)

The Measures for the Administration of Geographical Indications of Agricultural Products, which have been deliberated and adopted at the 15th executive meeting of the Ministry of Agriculture on December 6th, 2007, are hereby promulgated, and shall come into force as of February 1st, 2008.

Minister: Sun Zhengcai

December 25th, 2007

Measures for the Administration of Geographical Indications of Agricultural Products

Chapter I General Provisions

Article 1 For the purpose of regularizing the use of geographical indications of agricultural products, guaranteeing the quality and characteristics of agricultural products with geographical indications and improving the market competitiveness of agricultural products, these Measures are formulated in accordance with the relevant provisions of the Agriculture Law of the People’s Republic of China and the Law of the People’s Republic of China on the Quality Safety of Agricultural Products.

Article 2 The term “agricultural product” as mentioned in these Measures refers to primary products sourced from agriculture, namely, plants, animals, microorganisms and the products thereof obtained in agricultural activities.

The term “geographical indications of agricultural products” as mentioned in these Measures refers to special agricultural product indications which are named by territorial names and are meant to tell that the indicated agricultural products are from a specific area and that the quality and major characteristics of the products mainly lie in the natural and ecological environment as well as cultural and historical factors of the area.

Article 3 The state applies the registration system to geographical indications of agricultural products. Registered geographical indications of agricultural products shall be under the protection of law.

Article 4 The Ministry of Agriculture shall be in charge of the registration of geographical indications of agricultural products of the whole nation, while the agricultural product quality safety center under it shall be in charge of the examination and expert appraisal of geographical indications of agricultural products.

The administrative department of agriculture under the people’s government at the provincial level shall be in charge of accepting and preliminarily examining the applications filed within this administrative region for the registration of geographical indications of agricultural products.

The expert committee established by the Ministry of Agriculture for the appraisal of the registration of geographical indications of agricultural products shall be in charge of the expert appraisal work. The expert committee shall be composed of experts in crop and plant production, animal husbandry, fishery and agricultural product quality safety, etc.

Article 5 No fee may be charged for the registration of geographical indications of agricultural products. The administrative department of agriculture under the people’s government at or above the county level shall bring the expenses for the administration of geographical indications of agricultural products into the annual budget of this department.

Article 6 The administrative department of agriculture under the people’s government at or above the county level shall bring the protection and utilization of geographical indications of agricultural products into the development planning of agriculture and rural economy of this administrative region and give support in terms of policy and funds.

The state encourages social forces to assist push forward the development of geographical indications of agricultural products.

Chapter II Registration

Article 7 An agricultural product whose geographical indication is applied for registration shall meet the following requirements:
1. its name is composed of the name of the geographic area and the general name of the agricultural product;
2. the product has unique characteristics or special mode of production;
3. the quality and characteristic of the product mainly lie on the unique natural and ecological environment as well as cultural and historical factors;
4. the product has a limited producing area; and
5. the environment of its producing area and its quality satisfy the state’s compulsory technical norms.

Article 8 Applicants for the registration of geographical indications of agricultural products shall be excellent professional cooperative economic organizations of farmers and industrial associations determined by the local people’s government at or above the county level in accordance with the following conditions:
1. having the capability for supervising and administering the geographical indications of agricultural products and the products thereof;
2. having the capability for providing guidance for the production, processing and marketing of agricultural products with geographical indications; and
3. having the capability for bearing civil liabilities independently.

Article 9 An applicant satisfying the conditions for the registration of geographical indications of agricultural products may file a registration application with the administrative department of agriculture under the people’s government at the provincial level and submit the following application material:
1. a registration application form;
2. a certificate on the qualification of the applicant;
3. a description on the typical characteristics of the product and a corresponding product quality appraisal report;
4. the environment conditions of the producing area of the product, the technical norms for production and the technical norms for product quality safety;
5. a document determining the territorial scope, and a distribution map of its producing area;
6. a straight sample or a sample picture of the product; and
7. other necessary descriptive or evidentiary material.

Article 10 The administrative department of agriculture under the provincial people’s government shall, within 45 workdays from the date when the application for the registration of a geographical indication of agricultural products is accepted, finish the preliminary examination on the application material and the on-site verification, and propose its preliminary examination opinion. If the application satisfies the relevant requirements, it shall file the application material together with the preliminary examination opinion with the agricultural product quality safety center under the Ministry of Agriculture; if not, it shall notify the applicant of its opinion and suggestion within 10 workdays from the date when the preliminary examination opinion comes out.

Article 11 The agricultural product quality safety center under the Ministry of Agriculture shall, within 20 workdays from the date when it receives the application material and the preliminary examination opinion, examine the application material, propose its examination opinion and organize experts to appraise.

The expert appraisal work shall be undertaken by the expert committee for the appraisal of the registration of geographical indications of agricultural products. The expert committee shall work out appraisal conclusions independently and be responsible for these conclusions.

Article 12 If the expert committee is in favor of the application after appraisal, the agricultural product quality safety center under the Ministry of Agriculture shall publish an announcement on approving the application on behalf of the Ministry of Agriculture.

If any entity or individual has any objection to the approval, it/he shall, within 20 days from the date of expiration of the announcement, present the objection to the agricultural product quality safety center under the Ministry of Agriculture. If no objection has been received, the Ministry of Agriculture shall make a decision on putting the geographical indication on registration, publish an announcement thereon, issue the Certificate of the People’s Republic of
China on the Registration of Geographical Indications of Agricultural Products, and publish the relevant technical norms and standards for the products concerned.

If the expert committee is not in favor of the application after appraisal, the Ministry of Agriculture shall make a decision on disapproving the registration, and notify the applicant of the disapproval and reasons in written form.

Article 13 The registration certificate of a geographical indication of agricultural products shall be valid permanently.

Under any of the following circumstances, a registration certificate holder shall file an application for modification in accordance with the prescribed procedure:
1. the registration certificate holder or the legal representative changes; or
2. the territorial scope or corresponding natural and ecological environment changes.

Article 14 A geographical indication of agricultural products shall be a combination of a public mark and the name of the territorial product. See the attached drawing for the basic patterns of public marks. The norms for the use of geographical indications of agricultural products shall be formulated and promulgated by the Ministry of Agriculture in another initiative.

Chapter III Use of Indications

Article 15 An entity or individual may apply to the registration certificate holder for using the registered geographical indication as long as it/he satisfies the following conditions:
1. the agricultural product produced or traded by it/him originates from the territorial scope indicated in the registration certificate;
2. it/he has obtained the corresponding qualification for producing or trading the agricultural product concerned;
3. it/he is capable of conducting producing and trading activities in strict accordance with the prescribed quality and technical norms; and
4. it/he has the capacity for the market development and operation of the agricultural product concerned.

To use a geographical indication, an entity or individual shall conclude an agreement on the use of geographical indication with the registration certificate holder of the indication on the basis of production and operation year, and the agreement shall bear the quantity and scope of use as well as the relevant responsibilities and obligations.

The registration certificate holder of a geographical indication of agricultural products may not charge fees for use against users of the indication.

Article 16 A user of a geographical indication of agricultural products shall be entitled to:
1. use the geographical indication on his/its products and the packages thereof; or
2. use the registered geographical indication to make publicity or participate in exhibitions or sales fairs.

Article 17 A user of a geographical indication of agricultural products shall be obliged to:
1. voluntarily accept the supervision and examination of the registration certificate holder of the indication;
2. guarantee the quality and credibility of the agricultural product covered by the indication; and
3. correctly and legally use the indication.

Chapter IV Supervision and Administration

Article 18 The administrative department of agriculture under the people’s government at or above the county level shall strengthen the supervision and administration of geographical indications of agricultural products, and supervise and examine the territorial scope of agricultural products whose geographical indications have been registered and the use of such indications on a regular basis.

Where an agricultural product whose geographical indication has been registered or a registration certificate holder fails to satisfy the requirements specified in Article 6 or 7, the Ministry of Agriculture shall write off the registration certificate, and publish an announcement thereon.

Article 19 The producers and operators of agricultural products with geographical indications shall establish a quality control tracing system. Holders of certificates on the registration of geographical indications of agricultural products and users of such indications shall be responsible for the quality and credibility of the agricultural products concerned.

Article 20 No entity or individual may forge or falsely use any geographical indications of agricultural products or any registration certificates.

Article 21 The state encourages entities and individuals to exercise social supervision over geographical indications of agricultural products.

Article 22 Where any worker of registration administration, supervision and examination of geographical indications of agricultural products abuses his authorized power, neglects his duty or engages in malpractice for personal gains, he shall be punished according to law; if he is suspected of committing any crime, he shall be transferred to the judicial organ and bear corresponding criminal liability.

Article 23 Where any entity or individual violates the provisions of these Measures, the administrative department of agriculture under the people’s government at or above the county level shall punish it/him in accordance with the relevant provisions of the Law of the People’s Republic of
China on the Quality Safety of Agricultural Products.

Chapter V Supplementary Provisions

Article 24 The Ministry of Agriculture accepts applications for the registration of geographical indications of agricultural products from foreign countries, and protects them once they have been registered in the People’s Republic of
China. The specific measures shall be worked out in another initiative.

Article 25 These Measures shall come into force as of
February 1st, 2008.

Attached Drawing: Basic Patterns of Public Marks (Omitted)