AQSIQ, SAC Issue Guiding Opinions on Social-Group Standards

On March 10, the Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine (AQSIQ) and Standards Administration of China (SAC) jointly issued Guiding Opinions on Cultivating and Developing Social-Group Standards.  The document, representing the first official government policy on social group standards since the concept was first raised in 2014, was approved by the second plenary session of the State Council Standardization Coordination and Promotion Ministerial Joint Meeting. 

 

The Guiding Opinions set a 5-year timeframe for developing a market-driven social group standards system by 2020 that would serve the needs of market competition and innovation. Specifically, the development of social group standards will be measured by 3 key indicators, including:

- number and competitiveness of social group standards,

- global influence of social-group-standards-making organizations,

- comprehensive integrity of social group standardization systems, including third-party evaluation, public supervision

 

The Guiding Opinions also outlined 14 main measures for cultivating and developing social group standards, which are captured in 3 categories: utilization of market forces, innovation in management measures, and optimization of standards services.