Today (August 6), the State Administration for Market Regulation, together with the Ministry of Social Work of the Central Committee and the Ministry of Civil Affairs, jointly issued the "Compliance Guidelines for Fee Charging Behavior of Industry Associations and Chambers of Commerce".
Industry associations and chambers of commerce undertake the important responsibilities of serving the development of enterprises, reflecting industry demands, resolving conflicts and disputes, and strengthening industry self-discipline, and are the bridge between the government, enterprises and the market.
The "Guide" adheres to the implementation of the decision-making and deployment of the Party Central Committee and the State Council on further optimizing the business environment and resolutely rectifying arbitrary fees, summarizes and standardizes the regulatory practices of industry associations and chambers of commerce in terms of fees, clarifies specific requirements, handling methods and consequences of violations of laws and regulations, and provides clear guidance for industry associations and chambers of commerce, aiming to guide the standardized and healthy development of industry associations and chambers of commerce, protect the legitimate rights of industry associations and chambers of commerce and other business entities, and better play the positive role of industry associations and chambers of commerce in the market economy.
The Guidelines include a total of 54 articles in 7 chapters, including General Provisions, Membership Fees, Administrative Fees, Business Service Fees, Other Fees, Handling of Violations and Supplementary Provisions. The "General Provisions" section clarifies the purpose of drafting, the scope of application, the types of fees, the basic principles and basic requirements, etc.; The "Membership Fee" section details the requirements for the formulation of membership fee standards, bill management, prohibition of compulsory membership, and prohibition of multiple charges; The three parts of "administrative fees", "business service fees" and "other fees" put forward clear requirements for administrative fees, business service fees and other types of fees, including bill management, government entrustment matters, compulsory training, vocational qualification examinations, etc.; The "Handling of Violations" section clearly points out all kinds of illegal charging behaviors and corresponding handling methods; The "Supplementary Provisions" section clarifies the applicable subjects and guiding principles of the Guidelines.
The three departments said that the issuance of the "Guide" is an important step in the establishment of a long-term mechanism for the supervision of industry associations and chambers of commerce, and also the first step in the construction of the supervision system for enterprise-related fees, which will effectively promote the standardization of industry associations and chambers of commerce and promote them to play a more active role in economic and social development. At the same time, it also provides a clearer and more specific regulatory basis for the regulatory authorities, which helps to consolidate the effectiveness of law enforcement and improve the efficiency of supervision.
Today, the heads of the relevant departments and bureaus of the State Administration for Market Regulation, the Central Ministry of Social Work, and the Ministry of Civil Affairs answered reporters' questions on the "Compliance Guide for Charging Behavior of Industry Associations and Chambers of Commerce".
Q: What is the background to the Guidelines?
Answer: The "Decision of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China on Further Comprehensively Deepening Reform and Promoting Chinese-style Modernization" points out that it is necessary to improve the legal and regulatory system for long-term supervision of enterprise-related fees, deepen the reform of industry associations and chambers of commerce, and improve the management system of social organizations.
Industry associations and chambers of commerce are the bridge linking the government, enterprises and the market, and play an important role in the socialist economic system with Chinese characteristics. However, some industry associations and chambers of commerce use administrative power, administrative influence, and industry influence to collect fees in violation of regulations, which has aroused widespread concern in the society.
As the first institutional achievement of the governance of enterprise-related fees, the "Guidelines for the Compliance of Industry Associations and Chambers of Commerce" (hereinafter referred to as the "Guidelines") is an important measure to implement the spirit of the Third Plenary Session of the 20th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and improve the long-term supervision system, which is of great significance to promoting the standardized and healthy development of industry associations and chambers of commerce.
The State Administration for Market Regulation, in conjunction with the Ministry of Social Work of the CPC Central Committee and the Ministry of Civil Affairs, on the basis of summarizing the regulatory practices of various regions in recent years, soliciting the opinions of relevant parties, and soliciting opinions from the public, listened to the opinions and suggestions of relevant business operators, industry associations and chambers of commerce, experts and scholars, conducted in-depth research on key issues, and formed the Guidelines. The Guidelines aim to guide the standardized and healthy development of industry associations and chambers of commerce, and protect the legitimate rights of industry associations, chambers of commerce and other business entities. At the same time, let the business entities understand the rules, let the industry associations and chambers of commerce clarify the boundaries, and better play the active role of industry associations and chambers of commerce in the market economy.
Q: What is the general idea behind the development of the Guidelines?
Answer: In the process of formulating the Guidelines, the following general ideas are followed: First, adhere to the problem orientation. Focusing on the outstanding problems reported by the current operators, in view of the different charging standards and complex projects, the regulatory rules for commercial fees of industry associations are constructed. The second is to insist on overall planning. Scientifically and reasonably set charging requirements for key areas such as the collection of membership dues, administrative fees, and business service fees by industry associations and chambers of commerce. The third is to strengthen supervision and implementation. Promote the combination of self-discipline review and external supervision of industry associations and chambers of commerce, and establish and improve a long-term supervision mechanism for industry associations and chambers of commerce.
Q: What procedures should be fulfilled and what requirements should be complied with when industry associations and chambers of commerce collect membership dues?
Answer: In terms of formulating procedures, industry associations and chambers of commerce shall formulate or revise the membership fee standard by secret ballot at the general meeting or member representative assembly, and disclose it to all members within 30 days from the date of adopting the resolution on the membership fee standard.
Branch (representative) offices are not allowed to set separate standards for membership dues. Industry associations and chambers of commerce shall reasonably determine the standards and grades of membership fees, and the same membership fee level shall not be subdivided into different fee standards, and shall not implement floating membership fees.
Industry associations and chambers of commerce shall comply with the following requirements in collecting membership fees: first, enterprises or individuals shall not be forced or indirectly compelled to join and collect membership fees, and membership fees shall not be collected from non-member enterprises or individuals; Second, the basic service items included in the membership fee guarantee of industry associations and chambers of commerce shall not be charged separately to members; Third, it is not allowed to collect multiple dues from the same member; Fourth, it is not allowed to use methods such as "fee rebate", "commission" and "share" to absorb members and collect membership fees through other organizations or individuals.
Q: What are the requirements of the Guidelines for standardizing the administrative fees of industry associations and chambers of commerce?
Answer: Some industry associations and chambers of commerce are authorized by laws and regulations to manage public affairs or undertake matters entrusted by government departments. These charges are of a special nature, and they are prone to problems such as the use of administrative power and administrative influence to compel fees, and the collection of ride-hailing fees.
The Guidelines make a number of requirements for this type of administrative fee. The first is to require the association to do a good job in publicizing the fees. That is, in a conspicuous position in the residence or service venue, publicize the charging items, the nature of the charges, the service content, the charging standards and other information, to avoid the non-transparency of the charges. The second is to prohibit the association from compulsory membership and compulsory fees. Except for statutory membership, industry associations and chambers of commerce shall not compel enterprises or individuals to join and collect membership dues by means of management functions and administrative entrustment. The third is to prohibit associations from using administrative resources to compel services and charge fees. That is, the association shall not compel enterprises to accept services and collect fees by jointly issuing documents with administrative organs, using matters entrusted by administrative organs, or setting preconditions for administrative examination and approval in violation of regulations by administrative organs.
Q: How does the "Guide" regulate the service charges of industry associations and chambers of commerce?
Answer: In order to improve the clarity and operability of the Guide, the Guide sorts out the business service fees one by one according to the type of business, such as training, evaluation, consultation, examination, exhibition, publication, etc., a total of 12 situations.
The Guidelines clarify that industry associations and chambers of commerce carrying out business service activities are equivalent to business operators, and shall abide by the principles of voluntary, paid, and consistent quality and price, and implement market-adjusted price management for fees.
The "Guide" makes a clear reminder of various business service charges of industry associations and chambers of commerce, and puts forward regulatory requirements, such as e-government platform services, administrative examination and approval intermediary services, consulting services, training services, continuing education, holding exhibitions, selling newspapers and periodicals, conferences and forums, entrusting cooperation, formulating standards, evaluation and evaluation, and commendation of evaluation standards. These are all summaries and refinements of regulatory practices in recent years, and are summaries of the "error-prone points" of association fees. All industry associations and chambers of commerce can "follow the map" to improve the fee compliance system and prevent illegal and illegal fees.
Q: How to deal with illegal fees charged by industry associations and chambers of commerce?
A: The Guidelines clarify the regulatory responsibilities of various departments, classify and sort out the handling methods of different violations, and provide clear guidance for regulatory law enforcement.
Where industry associations and chambers of commerce collect membership dues in violation of regulations, the civil affairs departments are to handle it in accordance with the "Regulations on the Registration and Management of Social Groups" and other provisions.
For those who collect administrative fees in violation of regulations, such as exceeding the standard or exceeding the scope of examination fees, the market regulation department shall handle it in accordance with laws, administrative regulations, local regulations, and relevant documents of the Party Central Committee and the State Council.
For those who collect business service fees in violation of regulations, such as charging fees without services, or compulsorily charging service fees, etc., the market regulation department shall handle them in accordance with the "People's Republic of China Price Law" and the "Provisions on Administrative Punishment of Price Violations" in accordance with laws and regulations; Industry associations and chambers of commerce shall bear legal responsibility for violations of the Anti-Unfair Competition Law of the People's Republic of China, the Anti-Monopoly Law of the People's Republic of China and other laws and regulations.
Where deposits or donations are collected in violation of regulations, the relevant departments are to handle it in accordance with their authority and in accordance with laws and regulations.
In addition, the "Guide" puts forward the requirement of "discipline connection", and if clues are found involving Party members and cadres and public employees violating discipline and violating the law and committing crimes abusing public office, they will be promptly transferred to the discipline inspection and supervision organs with jurisdiction for handling.
Text/Beijing Youth Daily reporter Lin Lishuang
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