Laws of the People's Republic of China

The Ministry of Culture, the General Administration of Customs

Decree of the Ministry of Culture and the General Administration of Customs

No.23

The Measures for the Administration of Import of Audio and Video Products are hereby promulgated and shall enter into force on June 1, 2002.

Minister of the Ministry of Culture: Sun Jiazheng

Director of the General Administration of Customs: Mu Xinsheng

April 17, 2002

Measures for the Administration of Import of Audio and Video Products

Chapter 1 General Provisions

Article 1

In order to strengthen the administration of import of audio and video products, to promote the international culture exchanges and to enrich the culture life of the people, these Measures have been formulated according to the Regulations on the Administration of Audio and Video Products and the relevant provisions of the State.

Article 2

The audio and video products as used in these Measures shall refer to the audio tapes, video tapes, gramophone records, compact discs and laser discs etc. on which contents are recorded.

Article 3

These Measures shall apply to the import of finished audio and video products and the import from abroad of audio and video products used for publication, information network dissemination and other purposes.

Article 4

The Ministry of Culture shall be responsible for the supervision and administration of the import of audio and video products of the whole country, formulating the planning on imports of audio and video products, examining the contents of the imported audio and video products and determining the total number, overall arrangements and structures of the units engaging in the imports of finished audio and video products.

The administrative departments of culture of the local people's governments at and above the county level shall be responsible for the supervision and administration of the import of audio and video products within their respective administrative areas in accordance with these Measures.

The customs at various levels shall be responsible for the supervision and administration of the import of audio and video products within their respective scope of duties.

Article 5

The import of audio and video shall abide by the Constitution and the relevant laws and regulations, adhere to the orientation of serving the people and serving the socialism, disseminate the thoughts, ethics, science and technology, and culture knowledge conducive to the economic development and social progress.

Article 6

The State shall prohibits the import of the audio and video products that contain any of the following contents:

1)

those which go against the basic principles established by the Constitution;

2)

those which endanger the unity, sovereignty, territory integrity of the nation;

3)

those which divulge the State secrets, endangers the national security or damage the honor or interests of the State;

4)

those which incite the nationality hatred or discrimination, undermine the solidarity of the nationalities, or infringe upon the nationality customs or habits;

5)

those which advocate evil cults or superstition;

6)

those which disrupt the public order or undermine the social stability;

7)

those which advocate obscenity, gambling, violence or instigate crimes;

8)

those which insult or defame others, or infringe upon the lawful rights and interests of others;

9)

those which harm the social morality or the fine folk culture tradition;

10)

other contents that are prohibited by laws, regulations and provisions of the State.

Article 7

The State shall apply a license system to the import of audio and video products.

Chapter 2 Import Entities

Article 8

The import of audio and video products shall be managed by the audio and video product operating entities designated by the Ministry of Culture; no entity or individual may engage in the imports of audio and video products without the designation of the Ministry of Culture.

Article 9

Where libraries, institutions of audio and video materials, institutions of science and technology research and schools, etc. import the finished audio and video products used for research or teaching reference, they shall entrust the entities managing imports of audio and video products designated by the Ministry of culture to handle the procedures for examination and approval of import.

Article 10

The audio and video product publishing entities may engage in the publishing of imported audio and video products within the approved business scope of publishing.

Chapter 3 Import Examination

Article 11

The audio and video product import entities shall apply to the Ministry of Culture for content examination when importing audio and video products.

Article 12

The Ministry of Culture shall establish the Committee of Content Examination of Audio and Video Products to be responsible for the examination of the contents of the imported audio and video products. The Committee shall establish an office to be responsible for the daily work of examination of the contents of the imported audio and video products.

Article 13

One who wishes to import finished audio and video products shall file an application with the Ministry of Culture and submit the following documents and materials:

1)

application form for examination of the imported audio (video) products;

2)

draft of the import agreement;

3)

sample of the program, lyrics in Chinese and foreign languages;

4)

other materials needed for the content examination.

Article 14

One who wishes to import the audio and video products used for publication shall file an application with the Ministry of Culture and submit the following documents and materials:

1)

application form for examination of the imported audio (video) products;

2)

draft of the copyright trade agreement (versions in Chinese and foreign languages), certificate of the original copyright, authorization letter of copyright and the certification of registration issued by the copyright certification agencies of the State;

3)

sample of the program;

4)

other materials needed for the content examination.

Article 15

As for the import of the audio and video products used for exhibitions and shows, the entity holding the exhibitions and shows shall file an application and submit the catalog and sample of the audio and video products to the Ministry of Culture for content examination. The customs shall regard those products as temporary import goods and handle them accordingly.

Article 16

The import of the audio and video products used for information network dissemination shall be handled in reference to the provisions of Article 14 of these Measures.

Article 17

An import entity may not purposely alter the original name and contents of the sample program submitted to the Ministry of Culture for content examination.

Article 18

The Ministry of Culture shall make the decision on whether to approve or not within 30 days from receiving the application for import of audio and video products. For those approved, the documents of approval shall be granted; for those not approved, the reasons shall be explained.

The contents of the documents of approval may not be altered, where the alteration is necessary, it shall be handled anew. The documents of approval shall be valid for only one customs declaration and may not be used accumulatively.

Chapter 4 Import Administration

Article 19

No entity or individual may publish, reproduce, wholesale, retail, rent, show for profit or disseminate through information network the audio and video products of which the import hasn't been approved by the Ministry of Culture.

Article 20

No entity or individual may reproduce for profit, wholesale, retail, rent or show for profit the imported audio and video products used for research, teaching reference or exhibitions and shows.

Where the imported audio and video products used for exhibitions and shows do need to be sold or presented within China, the procedures for approval shall be gone through in accordance with these Measures before the sale or presentation.

Article 21

The import agreement or contract signed by an import entity and a foreign party shall comply with the laws and regulations of China.

Article 22

Within the term of copyright authorization of the audio and video products approved to be imported for publication, their finished audio and video products may not be imported.

Article 23

The publication of imported audio and video products by an audio and video publishing entity shall meet the requirements of the documents of approval of the Ministry of Culture, and the entity may not purposely alter the program name or add or delete any program content; when publishing the imported audio and video products, the entity must indicate the document number of the document of approval for import issued by the Ministry of Culture on the eye-catching places of the audio and video products and the packing thereof, and shall use the approved Chinese program name, and with respect to a program in foreign language, the name in Chinese and that in the foreign language shall be indicated on the audio and video product and the cover packing thereof.

Article 24

The languages and characters used in the publication of imported audio and video products shall meet the language and character criterions promulgated by the State.

Article 25

An import entity shall submit a sample to the Ministry of Culture for record within 30 days after the publication of the imported audio and video products.

If the audio and video products imported upon the approval of the Ministry of Culture haven't been published and released within 1 year from the day of approval, the import entity shall report to the Ministry of Culture for record and explain the reasons; as for those of which the import has been decided to be terminated, the Ministry of Culture shall cancel their approval document numbers.

Article 26

An import entity of audio and video products shall go through the import procedures for the original tapes (original discs) or the finished audio and video products at the customs on the basis of the document of approval for imports of audio and video products issued by the Ministry of Culture.

Article 27

Where an individual takes or mails the audio and video products used for non-profitable purposes into or out of the borders, the relevant administration provisions of the customs shall be applied.

Article 28

These Measures shall not apply to the audio and video products, which record the operation system, equipment specifications, special software and other contents, that are imported together with the machinery and equipment and that are re-exported with the machinery and equipment after import, and the customs shall check and release those products on the basis of the contracts, vouchers and other valid bills and certificates provided by the import entity.

Chapter 5 Penalty Provisions

Article 29

If anyone purposely engages in the import of finished audio and video products without approval or purposely reproduce the audio and video products not approved by the Ministry of Culture for import, he shall be punished according to the relevant provisions of the Regulations on the Administration of Audio and Video Products.

Article 30

If anyone has committed any of the following acts, he shall be ordered by the administrative department of culture at or above the level of county to stop his illegal acts and be given a warning, and the illegal audio and video products and the illegal gains shall be confiscated; where the illegal sale income is more than 10,000 Yuan, a fine of not less than 5 times but not more than 10 times of the illegal sale income shall be imposed concurrently; where the illegal sale income is less than 10,000 Yuan, a fine of not less than 10, 000 Yuan but not more than 50,000 Yuan shall be imposed concurrently; where the circumstances are serious, he shall be ordered to stop the business for rectification or the license shall be revoked by the organ that originally issued it:

1)

publishing, wholesaling, retailing, renting, showing and disseminating through information network the audio and video products of which the import hasn't been approved by the Ministry of Culture;

2)

wholesaling, retailing, renting and showing for profit the imported audio and video products used for research, teaching reference or exhibitions and shows.

Article 31

If anyone, in violation of these Measures, fails to indicate the document number of the document of approval for import granted by the Ministry of Culture when publishing the imported audio and video products, the administrative department of culture at or above the level of county shall order him to correct the acts and give him a warning, where the circumstances are serious, he shall be ordered to stop the business for rectification for 3 to 6 months, or the license shall be revoked by the organ that originally issued it

Article 32

If anyone, in violation of these Measures, has committed any of the following acts, the administrative department of culture at or above the county level shall order him to correct the acts and give him a warning, and may impose on him a fine of not less than 5,000 Yuan but not more than 10,000 Yuan:

1)

the languages and characters used in the publication of imported audio and video products failing to meet the language and character criterions promulgated by the State;

2)

the import entity failing to submit the sample to the Ministry of Culture for record according to the provisions;

3)

failing to report to the Ministry of Culture for record and explain the reasons when failing to publish and release, within 1 year from the day of approval, the audio and video products of which the import has been approved, or when deciding to terminate the import of the said products.

Article 33

If any audio and video publishing entity, when publishing and disseminating through information network the imported audio and video products, violates the requirements of the documents of approval of the Ministry of Culture, purposely alters the program name or add or delete the program contents, the Ministry of Culture shall give it a warning and impose on it a fine of not less than 10,000 Yuan but not more than 30,000 Yuan.

If the unit purposely adds or deletes the contents of the audio and video products imported after examination and approval, the administrative department of culture at or above the county level shall give it a warning, order it to stop publishing, reproducing, wholesaling and spreading through information network those audio and video products, confiscate the illegally managed audio and video products and the illegal gains, and order it to stop business for rectification for half to 1 year; if the illegal sale income is more than 10,000 Yuan, a fine of not less than 5 times but not more than 10 times of the illegal income shall be imposed concurrently; if the illegal sale income is less than 10,000 Yuan, a fine of not more than 50,000 Yuan may be imposed concurrently; if the circumstances are serious, the license shall be revoked by the organ that originally issued it. If a crime has been constituted, the criminal responsibilities shall be investigated.

Article 34

Anyone who violates the Customs Law and the relevant administration provisions shall be dealt with by the customs.

Chapter 6 Supplementary Provisions

Article 35

The import of audio and video products from the Special Administrative Region of Hong Kong, the Special Administrative Region of Macao and the Taiwan area of China shall be carried out with reference to these Measures.

Article 36

The power to interpret these Measures shall remain with the Ministry of Culture. Where any customs operations are involved, the General Administration of Customs shall be responsible for the interpretation.

Article 37

These Measures shall enter into force on June 1, 2002, and the Measures for the Administration of Import of Audio and Video Products promulgated by the Ministry of Culture and the General Administration of Customs on April 30, 1999, shall be nullified simultaneously.