China's defective product recall regulations expected to be introduced next year
The General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine of China has completed the drafting of the "Defective Product Recall Management Regulations (Draft)" and is expected to issue them as soon as next year.
"In addition to automobiles, toys, food and medicines that have been included in the defective product recall system, all other products that may cause serious personal health harm may be included in the recall, such as household appliances, public service facilities such as elevators and cable cars, etc.," General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine Liu Zhaobin, director of the Department of Regulations, told a reporter from China Daily on the sidelines of a summary of the third anniversary of the implementation of the automobile recall system and a product recall system seminar held in Beijing yesterday.
Director Liu revealed that the General Administration has now completed the drafting of the first draft and is extensively soliciting opinions from enterprises and relevant government departments. "We will listen extensively to opinions from all sides and actively work to launch the "Defective Product Recall Management Regulations" as soon as possible, improve the legal level of defective product recall management, expand the scope of product recall management, and strengthen government supervision," he said. , "Defective Product Recall Management Regulations" will be introduced next year.
If passed, the regulations will be China's first regulations on the recall system for defective products. The existing "Regulations on the Recall Management of Defective Automobile Products", "Regulations on the Recall Management of Children's Toys", "Regulations on the Management of Food Recalls" and the "Measures on the Management of Drug Recalls (Draft)" currently soliciting opinions are only departmental regulations at the legal level.
Jiang Tianbo, director of the Industrial, Commercial and Legal Affairs Department of the State Council's Legal Affairs Office who attended the seminar, also made it clear that the State Council's Legal Affairs Office is considering including the management regulations in next year's legislative plan.
According to Director Liu Zhaobin, the draft management regulations require companies to voluntarily recall defective products. If companies fail to voluntarily recall them, the government can order them to recall them. If companies fail to proactively recall defective products and cause serious consequences, they may face the revocation of their production licenses or even legal proceedings.
Pu Changcheng, deputy director of the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine, said at the seminar that the implementation of the recall system is important for protecting the legitimate rights and interests of consumers, maintaining public safety, promoting the construction of a harmonious society, transforming the government's management model, and improving enterprise product quality and international competitiveness. will play a positive role.
He said that with the rapid economic development and scientific and technological progress, and the widespread application of new technologies and new materials in industrial products, the risk of unsafe quality problems in corporate products due to design and manufacturing defects is also increasing. As for China's current laws and regulations, product safety management is mainly reflected in strict requirements for market access and national supervision and spot inspections based on standards, as well as strict regulations on product liability. However, the above system cannot completely prevent unsafe products from entering the market. Product damage compensation can only solve the harm that has occurred, but it cannot do anything about the potential dangers that are occurring and may occur.
"Therefore, establishing and improving laws and regulations on defective products is an indispensable and important part of the product safety legal system," Director Pu said.
Sun Bo, director of the Quality Department of the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine, also said at the meeting that the product recall system cannot be limited to departmental regulations. Only by raising the legal level and fixing it with laws or regulations can the economic relationships related to product recalls be effectively adjusted.
Director Sun also said that in order to cooperate with the implementation of the defective product recall system, the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine will coordinate with relevant government departments to establish China’s national product injury detection system to collect product-related personal injury and death information in hospitals across the country to provide national It provides the basis for formulating product safety policies, regulations, standards, etc., and can also test and evaluate the effectiveness and rationality of product safety policies.
Experts attending the meeting affirmed the necessity of promulgating the "Regulations on the Management of Defective Products", but also pointed out that under the current conditions, it is difficult to form a separate product recall law.
"As an ice-breaker for the recall system, the recall of defective cars has just been implemented in our country for three years. We must learn from experience and proceed step by step," said Ying Songnian, member of the Internal Affairs and Judicial Committee of the National People's Congress and director of the Law Department of the National Academy of Administration. "Now we will formulate a I’m afraid the legal conditions for a separate line are not yet mature.”
However, Director Ying said that we can first summarize the more mature practices and form a State Council administrative regulations. Wang Liming, a member of the National People's Congress Legal Committee, also said that the defective product recall system can be given higher legal protection by amending the current "Product Quality Law" and "Consumer Rights Protection Law" and adding provisions related to the recall of defective products.
Experts also suggested that while formulating relevant laws and regulations, relevant departments should also formulate and improve quality standards for various products in a timely manner and clarify the procedures for government-ordered recalls to prevent the government from abusing administrative power and damaging the legitimate rights and interests of enterprises. The scope of the defective product recall system also needs further discussion and clarification.
Figures released by the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine yesterday showed that from 2004 to November this year, China recalled a total of 1.3 million defective cars, all of which were voluntary recalls by companies.
– Reference source: China Instrument Information Network 2007-11-26
