Notice on Rectifying and Regulating the Printing Market Order

To the Press and Publication Bureaus, Public Security Departments (Bureaus), Administrations for Industry and Commerce, Bureaus of Quality and Technical Supervision, and Offices of the "Eliminating Pornography" and "Combating Illegal Publications" Working Groups of all provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities directly under the Central Government:

In order to implement the Provisions of the State Council on Rectifying and Standardizing the Order of the Market Economy and the Notice of the General Office of the State Council on Further Rectifying and Standardizing the Order of the Cultural Market, severely crack down on illegal printing activities, and prevent illegal publications and counterfeit and shoddy products from entering the market at the source, the General Administration of Press and Publication, the Ministry of Public Security, the State Administration for Industry and Commerce, the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine, and the Office of the National "Eliminating Pornography" and "Combating Illegal Publications" Working Group have decided to carry out a concentrated nationwide rectification and standardization of the printing market order. The relevant matters are hereby notified as follows:

I. Guiding Ideology

Guided by Deng Xiaoping Theory and the important thought of the "Three Represents," taking the current rectification and standardization of the market economy order as an opportunity, and based on the Regulations on the Administration of the Printing Industry and other laws and regulations, in accordance with the requirements of reducing total volume, optimizing structure, strengthening supervision, and strictly standardizing, and adhering to the principle of combining crackdown with prevention, rectification with standardization, and supporting the excellent while eliminating the inferior, we shall rectify and standardize the printing market order and promote the healthy and orderly development of the printing industry.

II. Work Objectives

Through six months of concentrated rectification, unlicensed and inadequately licensed printing plants shall be banned, illegal printing hideouts shall be eliminated, criminal gangs shall be smashed, major and important cases shall be investigated and handled, violations of laws and regulations in printing shall be investigated and punished, and rectification work in key areas shall be given prominent attention to ensure phased results are achieved. Through two to three years of effort, the scattered and excessive situation of low-level repetitive printing enterprises shall be markedly changed, major adjustments shall be achieved in the total volume, structure, and layout of the printing industry, and the printing market order shall achieve a fundamental improvement.

III. Main Tasks

(1) Ban unlicensed and unregistered printing plants. Their special tools and printing production equipment shall be confiscated and sealed up in a centralized manner. Among them, printing equipment that is explicitly eliminated by the state shall be supervised on site by the relevant departments and destroyed by remelting, and the remainder shall be publicly auctioned. For printing enterprises with incomplete licenses, except for the very few that operate in a relatively standardized manner, have advanced equipment and processes, and have relatively good personnel quality and that, after rectification within a prescribed time limit, meet the requirements and are allowed to complete their licenses, all others shall be banned.

(2) Seriously investigate and punish illegal printing and production activities. It is necessary to dig deep and investigate carefully, seriously investigate and handle major and important cases of illegal printing, and in accordance with the law, promptly and severely punish the units and individuals involved in the illegal reprinting of overseas political publications, and criminal gangs that forge documents and print infringing and counterfeit trademarks and product quality labels and other acts of producing and selling counterfeit goods. A number of principal culprits and hardened criminals who violate the law and commit crimes shall be severely punished in accordance with the law. Taking case investigation and handling as an opportunity, we must trace the source, investigate the flow, and thoroughly destroy underground printing networks.

(3) Do a good job in rectifying key areas. Make great efforts to rectify areas where major and important cases of illegal printing occur frequently. Focus on rectifying areas surrounding publication markets that were required to be closed in the 2001 concentrated action plan for "eliminating pornography" and "combating illegal publications"; focus on rectifying areas where unlicensed or inadequately licensed printing plants are concentrated. The whole country will take Shaodong in Hunan, Cangnan in Zhejiang, Tongzhou in Beijing, and other places as the key areas for this advanced stage of rectification. All localities should proceed from their own actual conditions, determine their respective key areas for rectification, and report them to the Office of the National Leading Group for Rectifying and Standardizing the Printing Market Order for the record.

(4) Reduce printing enterprises that do not meet the conditions. For those that do not meet the qualification conditions for printing enterprises, integration shall be carried out by means of combination, merger, and shareholding systems. Those that still fail to meet the standards after rectification and integration shall not be allowed to continue engaging in printing business activities. It is necessary to strictly follow the requirements of the macro-control plan for the total volume, structure, and layout of the printing industry and vigorously reduce printing enterprises that do not meet the conditions.

For non-key areas, all localities may, in light of their own actual conditions, determine the methods and steps for rectification and effectively accomplish the objectives and tasks of rectification. After the concentrated rectification is completed, all localities shall submit a work report to the Office of the National Leading Group for Rectifying and Standardizing the Printing Market Order, and submit a summary table of rectification conditions (see Attachment 2) and a summary table of the basic conditions of printing enterprises (see Attachment 3).

The period of concentrated rectification shall be from September 2001 to February 2002. During this period, approval for the establishment of new printing enterprises of all types shall be suspended.

IV. Organizational Leadership

The General Administration of Press and Publication, the Ministry of Public Security, the State Administration for Industry and Commerce, the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine, and the Office of the National "Eliminating Pornography" and "Combating Illegal Publications" Working Group shall jointly form the National Leading Group for Rectifying and Standardizing the Printing Market Order (see Attachment 1), which shall be responsible for guiding, coordinating, and supervising and inspecting the rectification work of the national printing industry.

The press and publication, public security, industry and commerce administration, and quality inspection departments of all provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities directly under the Central Government, together with the offices of the "Eliminate Pornography and Combat Illegal Publications" working groups, shall jointly form the National Leading Group for Rectifying and Standardizing the Printing Market Order (see Attachment 1), which shall be responsible for guiding, coordinating, and supervising and inspecting the rectification of the national printing industry.

The press and publication, public security, industry and commerce administration, and quality inspection departments of all provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities directly under the Central Government, together with the offices of the "Eliminate Pornography and Combat Illegal Publications" working groups, shall jointly form a leading group for rectifying and standardizing the printing market order, which shall be responsible for leading, coordinating, and inspecting the rectification of the printing industry in their own regions.

August 22, 2001

— This article is reposted from China Packaging Network (pack.cn). Original link: http://news.pack.cn/show-362034.html