Summary:

• A local Regulation on Services and Management of Population and Family Planning was gazetted by the Municipal Government of Guangzhou. It is provided that the single-children are entitled to accumulative maximum 15 days of paid nursing leaves in one year under a certain conditions.
• The Code for Design of Sprinkler Systems has been amended and gazetted by the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development. Some basic parameters of design and technical requirements are changed or added.
• The Safety Regulation on Production and Operation of Fireworks and Firecrackers was gazetted by the State Administration of Work Safety to prevent and reduce accident on production safety.
• The Technical Specification for Application and Issuance of Pollutant Permit - General Programme was gazetted by the Ministry of Environmental Protection. Technical requirements on management of pollutant discharging permit are defined.
• The Announcement on Implementing the Special Emission Limits of Air Pollutants for Air Pollution Transmission Channel in Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei was gazetted by the Ministry of Environmental Protection. Currently there are 25 national emission standards which provide special emission limits of air pollutants.
•  Updated Minimum Wage Standard of Zhejiang Province, Shanghai Municipality and Xinjiang Autonomous Region.

Contents

Labour

• < Regulation on Services and Management of Population and Family Planning in Guangzhou City >

Health and Safety

• < Code for Design of Sprinkler Systems > GB 50084-2017
• < Safety Regulation on Production and Operation of Fireworks and Firecrackers >

Environment

• < Technical Specification for Application and Issuance of Pollutant Permit - General Programme >
• < Announcement on Implementing the Special Emission Limits of Air Pollutants for Air Pollution Transmission Channel in Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei >

Minimum Wage Standard Update

• Zhejiang Province, Shanghai Municipality, Xinjiang Autonomous Region

Summary of Law Updates:

Labour

1. < Regulation on Services and Management of Population and Family Planning in Guangzhou City > (2018-02-01)

The Regulation on Services and Management of Population and Family Planning in Guangzhou City (hereinafter referred to as Regulation) has been gazetted by the Municipal Government of Guangzhou on 15th December 2017, and has come into force on 1st February 2018. The previous Administrative Measures on Population and Family Planning in Guangzhou City was repealed simultaneously.

The ｕｐｄａｔｅ from the Regulation provides that a single-child a parent of whom is 60 years old or above, is entitled to accumulative a maximum of 15 days of paid nursing leaves in one year if his/her parent is ill hospitalized. His/her benefits and full-attendance awards shall not be affected.

Health and Safety

1. < Code for Design of Sprinkler Systems > GB 50084-2017 (2018-01-01)

The amended Code for Design of Sprinkler Systems (hereinafter referred to as Code) was gazetted by the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development on 27th May 2017 and it has come into force on 1st January 2018. The previous version Code for Design of Sprinkler Systems GB 50084-2001 (Version: 2005) was abrogated simultaneously. The main amendments of the Code are as follows:

• The basic parameters of design for a wet pipe sprinkler system adopted by civil buildings with a clearance height of 12m to 18m are provided. The basic parameters of design in the previous version of Code for a tall and large non-warehouse places with clearance height of 8m to 12m are changed.
• A new technology, Sprinkler System of Cooling Protection, in the field of automatic sprinkler systems is provided.
• The design requirements for automatic sprinkler systems in warehouses are improved.
• The Chapter 4 "Selection of Systems" is changed to be "Basic Requirements of Systems", and it is emphasized that the selection of systems shall base on the site setups and the system design shall base on the type of sprinkler-nozzle.
• The application of vertical and drooping sprinkler-nozzles with extended coverage area, special sprinkler-nozzles, and household sprinkler-nozzles is added. And the technical requirements of chlorinated polyvinyl chloride (PVC-C) pipes and fire sprinkler hoses are added.

2. < Safety Regulation on Production and Operation of Fireworks and Firecrackers > (2018-03-01)

The Safety Regulation on Production and Operation of Fireworks and Firecrackers (hereinafter referred to as Regulation) was gazetted by the State Administration of Work Safety on 15th January 2018 and it has come into force on 1st March 2018. The main contents of the Regulation are as follows:

• The enterprises of production and wholesale shall ensure that the capital investment of safety production for 10 items, including but not limited to safety facilities, risk assessment and safety evaluation, and liability insurances.
• The entities of production and operation shall provide training on the safety knowledge of firecrackers and firecrackers and operational skills to their employees, and those employees who have not completed the safety production training or education are not allowed to go on duty. The operators for special tasks, for instance, operation in dangerous process, shall obtain relevant qualifications according to law prior to go on duty.
•  It is prohibited to subcontract or outsource workshop (warehouse), production lines, production equipment and facilities, or lease, lend and transfer the permits.
• Overcrowding or overloading is prohibited in the workshop (warehouse), and it is prohibited to change the design purpose of the workshop (warehouse) without authorization. An operator is prohibited to arbitrarily, leave his post and visit others, change or leave post, during work hours.

In addition, the Regulation provides relevant penalties for production enterprises, wholesalers, personnel in charge and other directly responsible persons, and retailers.

Environment

1. < Technical Specification for Application and Issuance of Pollutant Permit - General Programme > (2018-02-08)

The Technical Specification for Application and Issuance of Pollutant Permit - General Programme (HJ942-2018) (hereinafter referred to as Specification) has been gazetted by the Ministry of Environmental Protection on 8th February 2018 and it has come into force on the same day. The main contents are as follows:

• This Specification applies to the guidance for the pollutant discharging entities to fill in the Application Form of Pollutants Discharging Permit and to declare relevant application information on the internet, as well as to the guidance for the Environmental Protection Department to examine and decide the requirements of permission for the Pollutant Discharging Permit of the pollutant discharging entities.
  The industrial technical specification shall be followed if there is such technical specification of application and issuance for pollutant discharging permit in the industry; This Specification shall be followed if no industrial technical specification is available. The technical specification of general process shall be followed if the industry related to general process.
• This Specification provides the requirements on, declaration of basic information for pollutant discharging entity, determination of permissible emission limits, and the general method on the calculation of actual emission and judgment of compliance, and the environmental management requirements on self-monitoring, ledger and the ｅｘｅｃutive report on pollutant discharging permit.

2. < Announcement on Implementing the Special Emission Limits of Air Pollutants for Air Pollution Transmission Channel in Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei > (2018-01-16)

The Announcement on Implementing the Special Emission Limits of Air Pollutants for Air Pollution Transmission Channel in Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei (hereinafter referred to as Announcement) has been gazetted by the Ministry of Environmental Protection on 16th January 2018. The main contents are as follows:

1. Areas for implementation are defined explicitly

The areas for implementation are the urban administrative regions in the air pollution transmission channel in Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei, such as Beijing and Tianjin municipalities, and some other cities in Hebei, Shanxi, Shandong and Henan provinces.

2. Dates for implementation are defined accordingly

Dates for implementation are differentiated according to new construction projects and existing projects, and they are defined according to whether there are special emission limits of air pollutants provided in the related national emission standards.

3. Definition of Special Emission Limits

According to the Appendix in the Announcement, currently there are totally 25 national emission standards which provide special emission limits of air pollutants. For instance, the Table 3 - Special Emission Limits of Air Pollutants in the Emission Standard of Air Pollutants for Boiler GB13271-2014 provides the emission limit of Sulphur Dioxide (SO2) of coal burning boiler to be 200 mg/m3, while its regular emission limit is 300 mg/m3.

4. Other requirements

• Local requirements shall be preferred if there is more stringent requirements from local emission control standards.
• If the air pollutants emitted by an enterprise fail to meet the emission limits, the environmental protection department shall order to rectify or limit the production, stop production for remediation and impose penalty. If the breach of law is serious, the enterprise shall be ordered to stop operation or shut down.

China Minimum Wage Standard Update - March 2018

Intertek Training Course (China):

• CPI CSR Lead Auditor Public Training in China:
  http://www.intertek.com.cn/CourseContent_17_65.html   (Location: Shenzhen, Shanghai)
• CPI GSV Lead Auditor Public Training in China:
  http://www.intertek.com.cn/CourseContent_17_30.html   (Location: Shenzhen, Shanghai)
• More Training Courses in China:
  http://www.intertek.com.cn/Course.html

About Intertek

Intertek is a leading Total Quality Assurance provider to industries worldwide. Our network of more than 1,000 laboratories and offices and more than 100 countries, delivers innovative and bespoke Assurance, Testing, Inspection and Certification solutions for our customers’ operations and supply chains. Intertek Total Quality Assurance expertise, delivered consistently with precision, pace and passion, enabling our customers to power ahead safely.

www.intertek.com.cn