Administration for Quality Supervision Inspection & Quarantine (AQSIQ)
The April 2001 merger of State Administration for Entry-Exit Inspection and Quarantine (CIQ) and State Quality and Technical Supervision Bureau (QTSB) resulted in a new ministerial-level agency, AQSIQ. Li Changjiang, former director of CIQ and formerly a vice minister of the General Administration of Customs, serves as director, and Li Chuanqing, former director of QTSB, is the Chinese Communist Party secretary general.

AQSIQ’s administrative authority is broad. It manages China’s standards and conformity assessment regulatory structure, enforces compliance with certification requirements, and conducts quality and entry-exit inspections for commodities. AQSIQ reviews and approves the CCC product catalogue issued jointly with CNCA.

The agency employs roughly 210,000 people, of which 3,000 have commodity inspection and quarantine responsibilities and 180,000 ensure that products in the market meet standards and technical regulations. This last group also participates in an anticounterfeit campaign along with the State Administration of Industry and Commerce.

Standardization Administration of China (SAC)
Established in 2001 by the State Council, SAC is responsible for drafting China’s annual national standards agenda and approving, recording, and publishing the final standards. It assumed the responsibilities of the Department of Standards under the former QTSB and is responsible for the further alignment of PRC import and domestic standards regimes. Although other central-government bodies develop and publish sector standards, SAC determines the scope of the standards each agency may set. SAC also manages and coordinates the technical committees assigned to draft technical standards.

SAC has the authority to sign and implement international cooperative agreements and represents China in a dozen international and regional standardization organizations, including the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), the International Electrotechnical Commission, the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Forum, and the Pacific-Asia Standards Congress. SAC has established cooperative relationships with 52 countries. As a participant in international standards development, SAC has sent experts to join 300-500 working groups among the various international standardization organizations. SAC is also responsible for carrying out the notification and inquiry work of standards stipulated by the World Trade Organization’s (WTO) Technical Barrier to Trade (TBT) Agreement.

SAC is interested in working with foreign companies on national standards matters. In particular, SAC wants to ensure that its standards are not impeding trade.

China National Certification and Accreditation Commission (CNCA)
The State Council has authorized CNCA to establish, guide, implement, and supervise the compulsory product certification system.

CNCA designates certification bodies, testing laboratories, inspection organizations, and certificate-mark issuing bodies; publishes an official list of certified products and manufacturers; and directs local AQSIQ branches to find violators of compulsory certification. CNCA also has the power to approve the exemption of products from compulsory certification and to deal with complaints or appeals regarding compulsory certification.

CNCA draws up and modifies the product catalogue published jointly with AQSIQ and issues implementation rules for certification of products listed in the catalogue. There is no set schedule for revisions to the product catalogue, but CNCA plans to bring other products into its certification regime and has been working with the ministries of Agriculture and Health to extend the certification systems to agricultural products. The move is part of the effort to eliminate protectionism among government agencies in regulation, supervision, and enforcement. This new system appears to have been launched in late February with the release of a new regulation. Although lacking detail, the regulation serves as a rough guideline for China’s agricultural product certification system; CNCA will regulate the certification regime of agricultural products. According to CNCA, it is too early to say how long it will take to install this new certification system, but apparently the proposed certification will be voluntary rather than compulsory.

WTO TBT Inquiry Center
To ensure compliance with its technical regulations, standards, and conformity assessment obligations under the WTO’s TBT Agreement, China established the WTO TBT National Inquiry Center in 1995. The center operates under AQSIQ’s supervision and is headed by Director General Huang Guansheng, who participated in a number of the WTO negotiation sessions.

The center serves three primary functions, the first of which is responding to TBT-related inquiries from other WTO members on the PRC standards and conformity assessment regulatory framework. Companies can request information on pre-existing or new PRC standards by contacting the center (see Contact Box). The center also represents China when submitting TBT-related inquiries to other WTO members and conducting research on international standards and technical regulations. When other countries issue technical standards or conformity assessment requirements, PRC authorities may ask the center to provide technical support through research and analysis to determine whether the standards are scientifically based and reasonable. When foreign standards and conformity assessments are under review at the WTO—such as the European Union’s new wood packaging rules—the center will also coordinate the circulation of information among and responses from relevant PRC agencies.

The center also serves as the clearinghouse for notifying the WTO of all new standards adopted within China, as required by the WTO, and the repository for the catalogue of existing standards. This should increase transparency.

The center will also train AQSIQ employees and other individuals from the State Council, associations, and industry representatives. The center employs a train-the-trainer structure, which it will use to train 2,000 people (under AQSIQ) and then have those individuals train others. The training focuses on the basics of WTO-TBT protocol issues, including inspection and quarantine. The center had trained more than 200 people by the end of 2002.