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Article 61: When performing their supervision and inspection duties in accordance with the law, the departments responsible for the safety supervision and management of special equipment may exercise the following powers: (1) Enter the premises for inspections, and inquire with and gather information from the principal persons in charge as well as other relevant personnel of special equipment production, operation, and use units, as well as inspection and testing agencies； (II) Based on reports or evidence of potential violations obtained, examine and copy relevant contracts, invoices, account books, and other related documents of special equipment production, operation, and use units, as well as inspection and testing institutions ； (III) Seize and confiscate special equipment for which there is evidence indicating that it does not meet the requirements of safety technical specifications or poses serious accident risks ； (IV) Seize and confiscate special equipment that has reached the end-of-life condition or has already been scrapped and enters the market ； (5) Render administrative penalty decisions for acts in violation of the provisions of these regulations. Interpretation of the Article: This article deals with the administrative powers that the departments responsible for the supervision and management of special equipment may exercise when carrying out their supervision and inspection duties in accordance with the law, including powers of administrative intervention, administrative coercion, and administrative penalties. I. Power of administrative investigation The power of administrative investigation is the most widely utilized power by administrative agencies in the course of carrying out their duties. As an administrative power, its exercise must be based on clear legal provisions and follow certain procedures. At the same time, the relevant parties are also obligated to undergo investigations by administrative authorities; failing to cooperate with such investigations will result in adverse legal consequences (Article 95 of this law stipulates penalties for those who fail to cooperate with investigations). Items 1 and 2 of this article stipulate that the departments responsible for the safety supervision and management of special equipment may exercise administrative investigation powers when performing their supervision and inspection duties in accordance with the law. These powers mainly include the following aspects: (1) The power to conduct on-site inspections. Paragraph 1 of this article stipulates that the department responsible for the safety supervision and management of special equipment may conduct on-site inspections. The sites here include those where special equipment is produced, operated, and used, as well as those for inspection and testing, etc. In accordance with the requirements of law-based enforcement, on-site inspections shall be carried out by two or more administrative law enforcement officers or safety inspectors. Under normal circumstances, a record of the on-site inspection should be made to serve as evidence. (II) The power to investigate and gather information from relevant personnel. Paragraph 1 of this article stipulates that the department responsible for the supervision and management of the safety of special equipment may investigate and obtain information from the principal persons in charge and other relevant personnel of entities that produce, operate, or use such equipment, as well as from inspection and testing institutions. First, the subjects of the investigation are the principal persons in charge and other relevant personnel from special equipment production, operation, and use units, as well as inspection and testing agencies. The so-called principal responsible person generally refers to the legal representative of an entity, or the person designated by laws or administrative regulations to exercise authority on behalf of the entity. This includes three main types of individuals: 1. The legal representative of the entity (also known as the representative of the legal person), who is the person authorized by law to exercise authority on behalf of the legal person entity, such as the chairman of a corporate enterprise or the top official of a public institution ； 2. Persons who exercise authority on behalf of a unit in accordance with laws and administrative regulations, such as partners who manage the affairs of a partnership enterprise, or the investors of a sole proprietorship enterprise. 3. The person specifically responsible for operational management, such as the general manager of a corporate enterprise. In short, there are many forms of primary responsible persons. Generally speaking, the person who bears overall responsibility for a production and operation unit and has the authority to make decisions regarding its operations is the primary responsible person for that unit. The so-called other relevant parties have a wide range of inclusion – such as manufacturers of special equipment, managers and operators of such equipment in the units that use it, as well as inspectors and testers from inspection and testing agencies. Anyone who is related to the facts being investigated by the administrative authorities counts as a relevant party. Second, the investigation should be conducted by more than 2 administrative law enforcement officers. Third, investigate and gather information from the relevant persons; generally, an investigation record should be prepared to serve as evidence. (III) Right to consult and reproduce. Paragraph 2 of this article stipulates that the department responsible for the safety supervision and management of special equipment may examine and copy relevant contracts, invoices, account books, and other related documents of entities engaged in the production, operation, and use of such equipment, as well as of inspection and testing institutions. It should be noted that: 1. In accordance with the provisions of item 2 of this article, the department responsible for the safety supervision and management of special equipment may exercise the right to access and copy information only on the basis of reports or evidence suggesting illegal activities. This is different from the right to conduct on-site inspections and the right to investigate relevant persons; the exercise of these rights can be initiated proactively based on official authority or in response to reports, but the right to access and copy documents can only be exercised in the presence of a report or when evidence of potential illegal activities has already been obtained. 2. Other relevant materials refer to those related to the safety of special equipment that are not contracts, invoices, or account books. These include technical documents and materials such as design documents for special equipment, product quality certification, instructions for installation, use, and maintenance, as well as certificates of supervision and inspection. They also encompass records of inspections, acceptance, and sales of special equipment, as well as safety technical archives related to such equipment. II. Administrative Coercive Powers Articles 3 and 4 of this section stipulate that the departments responsible for the supervision and management of safety in special equipment may employ two administrative coercive measures, namely seizure and confiscation, when carrying out their supervision and inspection duties. The so-called administrative coercive measures, as stipulated in the Administrative Coercion Law, refer to actions taken by administrative organs during the process of administrative management, in order to stop illegal acts, prevent the destruction of evidence, avoid the occurrence of hazards, and control the spread of risks. Such actions involve imposing temporary restrictions on the personal freedom of citizens, or exercising temporary control over the property of citizens, legal persons, or other organizations, in accordance with the law. Administrative compulsory enforcement refers to the act by which administrative agencies, or administrative agencies requesting the people’s courts, enforce compliance with administrative decisions against citizens, legal persons, or other organizations that fail to fulfill such obligations, in accordance with the law. When carrying out seizures and attachments, the departments responsible for the supervision and management of the safety of special equipment shall pay attention to the following points: (1) The entity that carries out such actions is the department responsible for the supervision and management of the safety of special equipment. (II) There must be a legal basis. It involves two aspects: first, there must be laws and regulations that explicitly grant the departments responsible for the supervision and management of special equipment this authority. This is clearly stipulated in points 2 and 3 of this article, which state that the departments in charge of such supervision and management have the power to seal up and seize assets. Secondly, it should be noted that the departments responsible for the supervision and management of the safety of special equipment can only seal up or seize three types of equipment. The first type are those special devices for which there is evidence indicating that they do not meet the requirements of safety technical specifications. For example, as stipulated in the Safety Technical Specifications for Special Equipment TSG R0004, \"The design of shell joints, the longitudinal joints of welded pressure vessel cylinders, the circumferential joints connecting cylinder sections to end caps, the joints between end caps, as well as the welding joints between spherical shell plates, shall all use butt joints with full penetration across the entire cross-section.\" The shell plates of spherical storage tanks shall not be spliced. ”If, during the supervision and inspection process, it is found that the special equipment in use has been assembled from separate parts, then compulsory measures can be taken based on the actual circumstances. Secondly, there are special equipment with serious potential hazards for accidents; for example, some companies modify the equipment without authorization, or the equipment has become significantly worn out, or it is operated under excessive load for extended periods. In the case of lifting machinery, for instance, if its designed load capacity is 5 tons, but it is actually used to carry loads of over 5 tons, or even 10 tons, on a regular basis, this will severely affect the safe operation of the equipment. When such a situation is detected, measures should also be taken promptly. Third, special equipment that has reached the conditions for retirement or has already been retired and enters the market: in accordance with Article 48 of this law, when special equipment poses serious risks of accidents, has no value for renovation or repair, or meets other retirement conditions specified by safety technical standards, the entity using such equipment shall fulfill its obligations to retire it in accordance with the law, take necessary measures to eliminate its functional capabilities, and go through the procedures to cancel its registration certificate with the department responsible for supervising and managing special equipment safety where it was originally registered. Therefore, the so-called meeting the conditions for scrapping refers to the situation stipulated in Article 48 of this Law, namely \"having serious potential accident hazards, being of no value for renovation or repair, or meeting other scrapping conditions specified in the safety technical regulations.\" As for being scrapped, it means that the necessary measures have been taken in accordance with Article 48 of this Law to eliminate the functional capabilities of such special equipment, and the procedures for canceling the use registration certificate have been completed with the department responsible for the supervision and management of special equipment safety where the registration was originally done. (III) It must comply with certain procedures. Administrative organs shall comply with the following provisions when imposing administrative coercive measures: 1. They must report to the person in charge of the administrative organ prior to implementation and obtain approval ； 2. To be carried out by two or more administrative law enforcement officers ； 3. Present law enforcement identification ； 4. Notify the party to be present ； 5. Inform the party on the spot of the reasons and basis for imposing administrative coercive measures, as well as the rights and remedies to which the party is entitled under the law ； 6. Listen to the parties’ statements and defenses ； 7. Prepare a record of the scene ； 8. The on-site record shall be signed or sealed by the parties and the administrative law enforcement officers; if a party refuses to do so, this shall be noted in the record ； 9. If the party is not present, a witness is invited to be present, and both the witness and the administrative law enforcement officer shall sign or stamp the record made at the scene ； 10. Other procedures stipulated by laws and regulations. In actual law enforcement, emergency situations may arise from time to time; in order to prevent or stop harmful acts from occurring or continuing, it is necessary to take immediate coercive measures without having time to go through the approval procedures. In such cases, administrative law enforcement officers shall report to the person in charge of the administrative agency within 24 hours and complete the approval procedures accordingly. If the head of the administrative agency believes that administrative coercive measures should not be taken, they shall be lifted immediately. In law enforcement practice, some departments stipulate that in emergency situations, it is permissible to seek guidance by phone first and complete the approval procedures afterwards; this approach not only ensures the efficiency of administrative law enforcement but also meets the procedural requirements for administrative coercive measures. (IV) There is a time limit requirement. In accordance with Article 25 of the Administrative Coercion Law of the People’s Republic of China, the period of seizure and impoundment shall not exceed 30 days ； In complex cases, with the approval of the head of the administrative authority, the period may be extended, but the extension shall not exceed thirty days. Unless otherwise provided by laws or administrative regulations. This law does not contain any specific provisions regarding the duration of seizure and confiscation; therefore, the departments responsible for the supervision and management of the safety of special equipment must strictly abide by the provisions on time limits set out in the Administrative Coercion Law when carrying out such actions. (5) It is actionable. Seizure and confiscation, as an administrative coercive measure, is not only a power that the departments responsible for the safety supervision of special equipment can exercise during inspections, but it is also an independent specific administrative act. If the party concerned is dissatisfied with the seizure and confiscation measures taken by the department responsible for the supervision and management of safety in special equipment, they may file an administrative lawsuit solely regarding this matter. III. Power to Impose Administrative Penalties Article 5 of this section stipulates that the department responsible for the supervision and management of special equipment shall \"impose administrative penalty decisions for acts in violation of the provisions of this Law\"; that is, the penalties specified in Articles 74 to 95 of this Law are to be imposed by the department responsible for the supervision and management of special equipment. A decision on administrative penalties shall be made in accordance with the procedures stipulated by the administrative penalty laws and regulations. At the same time, **the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine, as the department under the State Council responsible for the supervision and management of safety in special equipment, issues regulations regarding administrative penalty procedures, which also serve as one of the bases for the implementation of such penalties. Such as the Provisions on the Procedures for Administrative Penalties in Quality and Technical Supervision (Order No. 137 of the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine), and the Provisions on the Trial of Cases Involving Administrative Penalties in Quality and Technical Supervision (Order No. 138 of the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine).