China Issues the Implementation Rules of 2020 National Inspection Plan for Product Quality

On July 31, 2020, China State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR) issued the Implementation Rules of 2020 National Supervision and Sampling Plan for Product Quality ^[1] to promote the enforcement of the plan ^[2] announced on May 8. The plan will focus on existing product safety matters in accordance to people's wishes and attempt to unify the supervision of manufacturing and circulation for both online and offline business. This year's random sampling inspections will be conducted for products that the public is most concerned about and for products whose safety levels have declined. Indicators that involve human health, personal safety, and property safety will attract the most attention during the inspection.

According to the 2020 National Supervision and Sampling Plan for Product Quality, SAMR will conduct random sampling inspections for a total of 131 types of products in 8 categories, including daily-use and clothing products, electronic products and home appliances, light-industry products, construction and decoration materials, agricultural production materials, machinery and security products, electrical materials and products, and food-related products. For each type of product, one specific document on the implementation rules regarding the sampling inspection is prepared, including the sampling rule, test indicators and relevant standards, and judging principles. The judging principles are attached at the end of the article.

Compared with the 2019 Plan, which includes 267 types of products for the sampling inspection, the number of types of products has significantly decreased this year. Since food safety is still top priority for the country and its people, the number of food-related products maintains relatively stable from last year. For more information on the inspection of food related products, please refer to this report ^[3] on ChemLinked Food Portal.

Three types of packaging materials for hazardous chemicals are added to the list of products subject to the supervision and sampling inspections, information on the materials and relevant national standards are shown in Table 1.

Table 1 Relevant Standards for Packing Materials of HazChem

Besides the national supervision and sampling plan, SAMR initiated a nationwide action to examine product safety and quality of hazardous chemicals, packaging materials of hazardous chemicals, and vehicle-carrying tanks which are used to contain hazardous chemicals on May 26 (ChemLinked News ^[4]). It seems that China will pay more attention to the packaging and transportation of hazardous chemicals this year, and as such stakeholders should prepare in advance to complete any self-tests first.

The judging principles specified in the implementation rules for each type of product are shown as below:

1. When all test items are tested qualified, the product is considered as qualified; when one or more items are tested unqualified, the products are considered as unqualified.

2. When the claimed standard of the tested product is higher than its corresponding reference standard in this rule, judgment shall be made according to its claimed standard. 

3. When the claimed standard of the tested product is lower than its corresponding mandatory reference standard in this rule, judgment shall be made according to the mandatory reference standard.

4. When the claimed standard of the tested product is lower than or contains its corresponding recommended reference standard in this rule, judgment shall be made according to its claimed standard.

5. When the claimed standard of the product lacks items in its corresponding mandatory reference standard, judgment shall be made according to its mandatory reference standard.

6. When the claimed standard of the product lacks items in its corresponding recommended reference standard, these test items will not affect judgement.