Big news! **The standards will be made fully available for free

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Big news! **The standards will be made fully available free of charge. Recently, the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine and the Standardization Committee issued the \"Implementation Plan for Promoting the Public Disclosure of Standards\" (hereinafter referred to as the \"Implementation Plan\") in the name of the Office of the Inter-Ministerial Coordination Committee for Standardization under the State Council, requiring relevant departments of the State Council to make information related to standards available to the public free of charge. 　　The relevant departments of the State Council, as well as the people’s governments of various provinces (regions, municipalities), may refer to this plan in order to carry out efforts to make industry standards and local standards within their respective departments and regions publicly available. This is a concrete measure to implement the State Council’s \"Plan for Deepening Reforms in Standardization Work\", and it represents an important step toward improving the quality of public services as well as supporting \"mass entrepreneurship and innovation\". 　　The “Implementation Plan” specifies the **content to be made public for the standards. It includes **standard text (including amendment sheets), bibliographic information, and information on compilation and revision. All public information is available for free online reading, without any charges, to enable the general public to access **standard information quickly. 　　The “Implementation Plan” specifies the **time limit for making standards public**. The newly approved and published **standard texts are made available to the public within 20 working days after the standard is issued**, while standard cataloging information and information regarding standard development and revision is made public promptly. Recommended **standard texts that adopt international (foreign) standards are made available under compliance with international (foreign) copyright policies** ； For the existing **standards** that have already been released, they will be made publicly available free of charge in phases, with full disclosure achieved by 2020. 　　The “Implementation Plan” specifies the **method for making standards public**. **The Standardization Administration and the relevant departments of the State Council publish on their official websites information regarding standards that have been approved for release or issued jointly, offering free online access to the standard texts. At the same time, the **Standardization Committee will actively promote the establishment of a unified national standard information service platform to facilitate the exchange of information and resource sharing among national, industry, and local standards, offering \"one-stop\" services for querying and accessing standard information. 　　It is reported that the mandatory **standards have been fully made public on the official websites of the Standards Committee and relevant departments of the State Council**. Original text of the document: Office of the Inter-Ministerial Joint Conference on Standardization Coordination under the State Council – Notice on the Issuance of the “Implementation Plan for Promoting the Public Disclosure of Standards” (Guobiaozheng Weixinban [2017] No. 14). To the people’s governments of all provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities directly under the Central Government; to all ministries and commissions of the State Council, as well as its directly affiliated agencies: The “Implementation Plan for Promoting the Public Disclosure of Standards” was approved at the third plenary meeting of the Inter-Ministerial Joint Conference on Standardization Coordination under the State Council. It is now issued to you; please ensure its thorough implementation. 　　Attachment: “Implementation Plan for Promoting the Public Disclosure of ** Standards”, Office of the Inter-Ministerial Joint Meeting on Standardization Coordination under the State Council, February 3, 2017. Implementation Plan for Promoting the Public Disclosure of ** Standards Standards are the outcome of human civilization’s progress, and their role in facilitating economic and trade exchanges, supporting industrial development, promoting scientific and technological advancement, and regulating social governance is becoming increasingly significant. The State Council’s \"Plan for Deepening Reforms in Standardization Work\" (hereinafter referred to as the \"Reform Plan\") requires that \"the text of mandatory standards be made publicly available free of charge\" and that \"the text of voluntary standards intended for public benefit also be made publicly available free of charge.\" This plan is formulated to implement the \"Reform Plan\", advance the public disclosure of standards, use such disclosure to foster a market environment characterized by fair competition, and promote \"mass entrepreneurship and innovation\". I. Working Principles **Standardized and transparent work shall follow the following principles: (1) Unified management with clear division of responsibilities.** **The Standards Committee is responsible for **establishing systems and mechanisms for standard disclosure, strengthening comprehensive coordination, and driving forward** the work related to standard disclosure ； **The Standardization Commission and the relevant departments of the State Council are respectively responsible for the public release of the **standards they issue. 　　(II) Advance as a whole and implement in stages. In accordance with the requirements of the Reform Plan, the Standardization Administration and relevant departments of the State Council work together to promote the disclosure of standards. Depending on different situations such as mandatory **standards and recommended** standards, standards that adopt international (foreign) standards (hereinafter referred to as \"adoption of standards\") and standards that do not adopt such standards, the disclosure is carried out in an orderly manner in phases. 　　(III) Protect copyright, make it freely available. **Standard disclosure should protect standard copyrights and safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of standard copyright owners ； **Standard public implementation texts are available for free online access to facilitate the promotion and application of standards. II. Work Objectives 　　Improve the mechanisms and measures to promote the disclosure of **standards, promptly make the texts of mandatory **standards available to the public, and gradually make the texts of recommended **standards accessible to the public as well. This will further enhance the openness and transparency in the development and revision of **standards, ensuring that the general public can easily obtain authoritative **standard information. By 2020, it is to be basically achieved that **all standards are made freely available. III. Content and Methods of Disclosure （1）Content to be disclosed. 　　1. **Standard text, i.e., the standard text that has been approved for publication** (including amendment sheets) ； 　　2. **Standard cataloging information, including: standard number, standard Chinese name, standard English name, publication date, implementation date, issuing authority, International Standard Classification number, etc.** ； 　　3. **Information on the development and revision of standards, including: information published prior to the initiation of a standard, announcements regarding standard plans, draft versions of standards for public comment, announcements of the approval of standards, announcements of the withdrawal of standards, and results of standard reviews.** (II) Public method. 　　**The Standardization Commission and the relevant departments of the State Council publish on their official websites the **standard texts, cataloging information, and information on standard development and revision that have been approved for release or issued jointly, offering free online access to the **standard texts. IV. Organization of implementation The text of newly approved and issued **standards should be made public within 20 working days after their issuance, while the texts of recommended **standards that are based on such standards should be made public subject to compliance with the copyright policies of international (foreign) standard organizations. **Standard cataloging information and revision information should be made publicly available in a timely manner. 　　The released **standard will be implemented in two phases. 　　Phase 1: By the end of 2018, mandatory **standards will be made freely available to the public ； The recommended **standards that are not mandatory are made freely available to the public. 　　Phase 2: By the end of 2020, subject to compliance with the copyright policies of international (foreign) standard organizations, the recommended **standards adopted for procurement will be made freely available to the public. 　　**The standardization of public information helps enterprises develop and apply advanced standards in production, thereby improving the quality of products and services. It also aids in guiding consumption, protecting consumers’ rights and interests, and strengthening social oversight. Relevant departments should attach great importance to this matter, clarify responsibility allocations, strengthen organizational leadership over the public disclosure of standards, and ensure the smooth progress of related work. 　　**The Standards Committee should promote the development of a national standards information network platform on the basis of making standards publicly available, thereby enabling the exchange of standardization information and the sharing of resources across departments, industries, and regions, and providing public services related to standard information. The various departments of the State Council, as well as the people’s governments of various provinces (regions, municipalities), may refer to this plan when carrying out efforts to make industry standards and local standards public within their respective departments and regions.