Addressing prominent issues and stimulating market vitality: The new "Commodity Barcode Management Measures" are released.

People’s Finance News, March 27—Today (the 27th), a reporter learned from a press briefing held by the State Administration for Market Regulation that the newly revised “Measures for the Administration of Product Barcodes” were released today. Product barcodes are a product’s “identity card,” serving as an important tool for product quality traceability and digital regulation. The revised “Measures for the Administration of Product Barcodes” improve institutional and regulatory standards and address prominent issues in practice. Drawing on years of management experience, they set out requirements for the use of product barcodes in the case of commissioned production, and address prominent practical problems such as record-filing for overseas-registered product barcode information. They also strengthen the role of product barcodes in quality traceability management, providing institutional support for improving regulatory precision. The revised “Measures for the Administration of Product Barcodes” reduce the burden on businesses and help stimulate the vitality of market entities. They abolish the qualification recognition for enterprises printing product barcodes and exempt sellers from the obligation to verify product barcodes when purchasing inventory. They also optimize and adjust penalties, uphold the principle that punishment should be proportionate to the wrongdoing, combine punishment with education, and for illegal acts with relatively smaller harm to society, change from “punish for violations” to “rectification first,” achieving a balance between strictness and leniency. This lowers institutional transaction costs, optimizes the business environment, and stimulates market vitality. The revised “Measures for the Administration of Product Barcodes” clarify the scope of product barcode application and strengthen the role of product barcodes. Based on years of experience in product barcode management and application, they highlight the role of product barcodes as a product “identity card,” strengthen their role in the aggregation of product information and traceability of quality and safety, and provide institutional support for establishing a nationwide unified product information database and for serving the high-quality development of the digital economy. (CCTV News)