Industry Association Chamber of Commerce Fee Behavior Compliance Guide

General Administration of Market Supervision Central Social Work Department Ministry of Civil Affairs
Announcement on Issuing the Compliance Guide for Charge Behavior of Trade Associations and Chambers of Commerce

In order to strengthen the supervision of the fees charged by industry associations and chambers of commerce and guide industry associations and chambers of commerce to carry out activities in accordance with the law, the General Administration of Market Supervision, together with the Central Ministry of Social work and the Ministry of Civil Affairs, has formulated the "Guidelines for the Compliance of the Charges of Industry Associations and Chambers of Commerce", which is hereby announced.

General Administration of Market Supervision Central Social Work Department Ministry of Civil Affairs

July 30, 2024

Industry Association Chamber of Commerce Fee Behavior Compliance Guide

Chapter I General Provisions

Article 1 in order to further standardize the charging behavior of trade associations and chambers of Commerce, guide trade associations and chambers of Commerce to carry out activities, provide services and charge fees in accordance with the law, this guide is formulated in accordance with laws and regulations such as the the People's Republic of China Price Law, the provisions on Administrative punishment for Price violations, the regulations on the Registration and Administration of Social organizations, and the regulations on optimizing the Business Environment.
Article 2 The purpose of these Guidelines is to optimize the market environment for fair competition, safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of members of trade associations and chambers of commerce and other business entities, and promote the standardized and healthy development of trade associations and chambers of commerce.
Article 3 the term "trade association chamber of commerce" as mentioned in these guidelines refers to a social organization legal person registered with the civil affairs department whose member is a unit engaged in economic activities of the same nature, a person in the same industry or an economic organization in the same region, and whose name is suffixed with the words "trade association", "association" and "chamber of commerce.
Article 4 The fees charged by trade associations and chambers of commerce as mentioned in these Guidelines mainly refer to membership fees, administrative fees, operating service fees and other fees.
Article 5 all kinds of charging business carried out by trade associations and chambers of commerce shall conform to the business scope stipulated in the articles of association, perform the procedures stipulated in the articles of association, and adhere to the basic principles of compliance with the law, openness and transparency, equality and voluntariness.
Compliance with the law means that the charging behavior should follow the requirements of laws, regulations and relevant policies.
Open and transparent means to fully protect the right to know of members and other service objects, and to publicize the charging items and standards.
Equal and voluntary, refers to the provision of services on a voluntary basis, may not be compulsory or disguised compulsory services and fees.
Article 6 The market supervision, social work, civil affairs and other departments, as well as various business competent units, industry management departments, and relevant functional departments, shall, in accordance with the division of responsibilities, conduct comprehensive supervision of the charging behavior of industry associations and chambers of commerce.
Article 7 Trade associations and chambers of commerce shall establish a problem feedback mechanism and seriously carry out self-examination and self-correction of the charging problems reflected by their members. Business entities and individuals can also make complaints and reports through the national 12315 platform and the complaint reporting platform of social organizations at all levels.
Article 8 The industry association and chamber of commerce shall actively cooperate with the supervision and inspection of the regulatory authorities, and provide the account books, documents, vouchers, documents and other materials necessary for the inspection in a timely, accurate and complete manner.
Article 9 Industry associations and chambers of commerce shall establish and improve a charging compliance system, understand relevant charging policies, regulate charging items and charging behaviors, ensure compliance with the requirements of this Guide, and prevent illegal charging behaviors.
Article 10 For charges with high standards, large surpluses, and strong social response, industry associations and chambers of commerce are encouraged to comprehensively consider service costs, member operating conditions, affordability, industry development level and other factors to reasonably formulate charging standards to reduce high charges.
Article 11 the trade association chamber of Commerce shall publicize the charging items, charging nature, service content, charging standard and basis of the association's chamber of Commerce in the conspicuous position of residence and service site, portal website, WeChat public number, etc., so as to facilitate the public to obtain or understand.
Article 12 Trade associations and chambers of commerce shall fully protect the service object's right to know the charges, perform the obligation of notification before charging, shall not charge fees in addition to the marked fees to provide services, shall not charge any unmarked fees, and shall not use false or misleading price means to lure the service object to trade with it.

Chapter II Membership Fee

Article 13 As a legal person of a social organization, the industry association chamber of commerce may collect membership fees from individual members and unit members on an annual basis to ensure the normal operation of the industry association chamber of commerce and provide basic services for its members. The basic service items included in the membership fee guarantee of the trade association chamber of commerce shall not be charged to the members separately.
Article 14 The trade association chamber of commerce shall, in accordance with the business scope, work cost and other factors stipulated in the articles of association, and in combination with the actual situation of the industry and members, reasonably determine the standard and grade of membership fee, and the same grade of membership fee shall not be subdivided into different charging standards.
Article 15 When the trade association chamber of commerce formulates or revises the membership fee standard, it shall convene a general meeting of members or a representative meeting of members, attended by more than 2/3 of the members or representatives of the members present, and approved by a vote of more than 1/2 of the members or representatives of the members present, and the voting shall be conducted by secret ballot. The resolution shall be made public to all members within 30 days from the date of adoption of the resolution on the standard membership fee.
The amount of the standard membership fee should be clear and no floating membership fee should be applied.
Article 16 The membership fees of trade associations and chambers of commerce shall be accounted for on a special basis, and receipts for membership fees of social organizations printed (supervised) by the Ministry of Finance or provincial finance departments shall be used in accordance with the regulations. In addition to membership fees, other charges shall not use the social group membership fee receipts.
Article 17 The trade association chamber of commerce shall announce the income and expenditure of membership dues to its members every year, regularly accept the examination of the general assembly or the representative assembly of members, and fill in the income of membership dues during the annual inspection of the trade association chamber of commerce.
Article 18 Trade associations and chambers of commerce shall not force or in disguised form force business entities or individuals to join and collect membership fees, and shall not prevent members from withdrawing from the membership. Where laws and regulations provide otherwise, such provisions shall prevail.
Article 19 The headquarters and branch (representative) offices of trade associations and chambers of commerce shall not repeatedly collect membership fees from multiple heads of the same member. The branch (representative) institution of the chamber of commerce of the trade association shall not separately set the standard of membership fee.
Trade associations and chambers of commerce shall not collect membership fees from non-member business entities or individuals. It is not allowed to absorb members and collect membership fees through other organizations or individuals by means of "fee return", "drawing" and "share.

Chapter III Administrative Fees

Article 20 The fees collected by industry associations and chambers of commerce on behalf of government functions in accordance with laws, administrative regulations, etc., shall be included in the management of administrative fees. The items and standards of administrative fees shall be subject to strict examination and approval procedures. Trade associations and chambers of commerce shall strictly follow the charging policy documents of the development and reform and financial departments, and shall not increase charging items or raise charging standards without authorization.
Article 21 When the trade association chamber of commerce collects administrative fees, it shall use the administrative fee bills of the financial department's unified supervision (printing) system according to the financial affiliation.
Article 22 The industry association and chamber of commerce accept the entrustment of the administrative agency to carry out relevant work, and regard the service matters of the industry association and chamber of commerce as a precondition for administrative actions, and the administrative agency grants the industry association and chamber of commerce the power of recommend, suggestion, and supervision, etc., and the relevant work expenses shall be The agency bears.
Trade associations and chambers of commerce shall disclose to the public the matters authorized or entrusted by administrative organs, as well as the relevant procedures, examination standards, processing time limits, funds allocated by administrative organs, and so on, and it is strictly forbidden to take the opportunity to collect fees from business entities.
Article 23 Compulsory statutory training conducted by trade associations and chambers of commerce authorized or entrusted by administrative agencies shall adopt the method of government purchase of services and be guaranteed by financial funds. If it is necessary to collect fees, they shall be managed as administrative fees.
Article 24 Trade associations and chambers of commerce shall not charge any fees other than examination fees and appraisal fees if they undertake the work of accreditation of relevant professional qualifications in accordance with the requirements. Trade associations and chambers of commerce that hold vocational qualification examinations shall not organize examination-related training and collect fees.

Chapter IV Business Service Charges

Article 25 Industry associations and chambers of commerce shall, in accordance with the relevant provisions of laws and regulations on operators and the principles of voluntariness, compensation, and consistency of quality and price, carry out information consultation, training, evaluation, exhibition, sales of newspapers and periodicals and other services within the business scope specified in the articles of association. Industry associations and chambers of commerce are equivalent to operators, and their fees are subject to market-adjusted prices as operating service fees.
Trade associations and chambers of commerce shall implement the principle of non-profit, and the income shall be used for the development and services of trade associations and chambers of commerce, and shall not be distributed among managers or members.
Article 26 When industry associations and chambers of commerce formulate or modify operating service charging standards, they shall take reasonable measures to ensure that all parties concerned can fully express their opinions, and coordinate the protection of the rights and interests of members and service objects. The charging items and standards shall be disclosed to the public.
The business service fees charged by the industry association chamber of commerce with a certain monopoly and mandatory shall be determined in accordance with the principles of legality and reasonableness, cost compensation, and slight surplus, and shall be voted by the member (representative) assembly or the board of directors by secret ballot. pass.
Article 27 Trade associations and chambers of commerce shall not subcontract their own business service activities or entrust individuals or organizations that have direct interests with the heads of trade associations and chambers of commerce or the heads of branches (representatives) to implement them. Operating service charges shall be incorporated into the accounts of trade associations and chambers of commerce, and shall not be appropriated, privately divided or misappropriated by interested individuals or business entities.
Article 28 Except as otherwise provided by laws and regulations, trade associations and chambers of commerce shall not force or disguise to force business entities to participate in appraisal, compliance, commendation, training, assessment, examination and similar activities, and shall not use the aforementioned compulsory or disguised compulsory activities. The business entity charges or charges in disguise.
Article 29 Trade associations and chambers of commerce shall not use administrative power, administrative influence and other compulsory services and collect fees. The relevant methods include but are not limited:
(I) force business entities or individuals to accept paid services from trade associations and chambers of commerce by issuing documents jointly with administrative organs or by means of minutes of meetings of administrative organs;
The (II) takes advantage of the matters entrusted by the administrative organ to collect the fees related to the entrusted matters from the business entity;
It is (III) through the administrative organs to set up administrative examination and approval, administrative licensing matters pre-conditions, etc., to force business entities to accept services and charge fees.
(IV) charges for non-public data and information obtained by undertaking administrative entrustment matters.
Article 30 Industry associations and chambers of commerce shall not fabricate or disseminate information on price increases in the industry, upstream and downstream industries, and rising information on the production and operation costs of the industry, so as to directly or indirectly promote the price of goods or services in the industry to rise too fast or too high.
Article 31 The Chamber of Commerce of a trade association shall not organize or guide its members or other operators in the industry to hoard a large number of commodities with tight market supply and abnormal price fluctuations in addition to producing for their own use, beyond the normal storage quantity or storage cycle.
Article 32 Industry associations and chambers of commerce shall create an open and fair market environment for business entities in the same industry, fully respect the independent pricing power of operators in the industry, and shall not organize operators in the industry through meetings, forums, notices, rules, etc. Collusion with each other to manipulate market prices.
Article 33 The e-government platform developed and constructed by industry associations and chambers of commerce entrusted by administrative agencies is a window for administrative agencies to provide public services to the society, and should be open to business entities, individuals and society free of charge. The relevant construction, operation, maintenance and other expenses shall be borne by the administrative organs, and the trade associations and chambers of commerce shall not charge any fees to the users of the e-government platform in the name of technical maintenance fees, service fees, electronic media costs, etc.
Article 34 Trade associations and chambers of commerce shall equally participate in the market competition of intermediary services for administrative examination and approval. Trade associations and chambers of commerce that have not been decoupled from the administrative authorities shall not carry out intermediary services related to the administrative examination and approval of the competent business units.
Industry associations and chambers of commerce accept the entrustment of administrative agencies to carry out administrative examination and approval technical services, and the relevant expenses shall be borne by the administrative agencies and shall not be passed on to the business entities.
Article 35 when conducting consulting services, trade associations and chambers of commerce shall stipulate the service time, content, standards and results in the form of contracts, provide professional, targeted and personalized services in accordance with the requirements of the service objects, and keep service records. It is not allowed to charge only for no service or less service, and it is not allowed to provide non-original content that is highly homogeneous and highly similar to public information.
Article 36 In carrying out training activities, trade associations and chambers of commerce shall, in accordance with the principles of making up for costs, having a slight surplus and voluntary participation, closely follow the actual business work and the needs of the trainees, formulate training programs, ensure the quality of training, reasonably formulate charging standards, and match the quality and price of training services and fees.
Article 37: Trade associations and chambers of commerce carry out continuing education for professional and technical personnel, and maintain the validity of certificates during study hours, they shall clearly recognize other methods of class hours, and shall not require business entities or individuals to only accept continuing education organized by the trade associations and chambers of commerce. Exclusive operation, excessive fees.
When carrying out continuing education activities, trade associations and chambers of commerce shall disclose the scope, content, charging items and standards of continuing education to the public in the notice announcement.
The use of modern information technology to carry out distance education should be based on training costs, reasonably determine the charging standards, and reduce the burden on training objects.
Article 38 Trade associations and chambers of commerce shall hold exhibitions, exhibitions, and sales activities for the purpose of promoting the development of the industry, expanding the influence of members, providing docking platforms or sales channels, etc., and shall not use the influence of the industry or its own dominant position to force the collection of booth fees, Publicity and promotion fees, etc., shall not take the opportunity to hold appraisal and commendation activities in disguise.
Article 39 the sales of publications, newspapers and books by trade associations and chambers of commerce shall be reasonably priced according to the publishing cost, market demand and the level of local economic development, and shall not be overpriced in the name of intellectual property rights or with the help of industry influence, and shall not force members to pay for orders.
The internal materials compiled and printed shall not be advertised, and shall not be charged in the form of cost, membership fee, page fee, service fee, etc., and shall not be priced, sold or ordered for distribution.
Article 40: Industry associations and chambers of commerce cooperate to carry out seminar and forum activities in the form of "organizer", "co-organizer", "supporting unit", "guiding unit", "organizer", and "participating unit". It is necessary to earnestly perform relevant duties and strengthen the activities. The supervision of the whole process and important links shall not be allowed to participate and charge fees only by name.
Article 41 If a trade association or chamber of commerce entrusts its own business activities to other units to undertake or co-organize, it shall strengthen guidance and supervision, and shall not only earn the price difference in the form of subcontracting, and shall not collect fees from the undertaker or co-organizer in any form.
Article 42 The industry association chamber of commerce shall organize the preparation of industry standards, group standards, etc., and the expenses required shall be borne by the industry association chamber of commerce. If the enterprises and institutions participating in the compilation voluntarily pay fees, the trade associations and chambers of commerce shall clearly state the charging standards and the use of funds, and the funds collected shall be used for the preparation of standards, and the total amount shall not be higher than the actual use of funds for the preparation of standards. No fee shall be charged by name in the form of participation fee, signature fee, etc., and no management fee shall be charged in the name of giving a standard number.
Article 43 when carrying out qualification evaluation, grade evaluation, credit evaluation and other activities, trade associations and chambers of commerce shall conduct true and objective evaluation on the basis of the results and data of substantive assessment, testing, appraisal and certification, and shall not carry out "buying and selling certificates" activities without substantive services.
If the industry association and chamber of commerce entrusts a third-party organization to assist in providing some services, it shall strictly control the quality of the third-party service, and shall not only charge fees to avoid the main responsibility.
Article 44 The establishment, adjustment or change of appraisal and commendation projects by industry associations and chambers of commerce shall perform the examination and approval procedures in accordance with the "Administrative Measures for Social Organization Appraisal and Commendation Activities.
Industry associations and chambers of commerce shall bear all the expenses for holding appraisal and commendation activities, and shall not collect fees from participating units and individuals in any form, and shall not charge various related fees directly or in disguise before and after the selection, and shall not entrust the activities to profit-making institutions to host or undertake.
Article 45 A trade association and chamber of commerce shall not collect or disguise administrative fees from its branches, representative offices and offices.

Chapter V Other Charges

Article 46 When accepting donations and sponsorships, trade associations and chambers of commerce shall, on a voluntary basis, sign an agreement to stipulate the rights and obligations of both parties. Improper profit-making activities such as forced apportionment or transfer of benefits in the name of donation or sponsorship shall not be allowed.
Article 47 Trade associations and chambers of commerce shall carry out self-discipline management and collect self-discipline deposits and deposits from members, which shall be managed in a special account, and the relevant assets and their interest shall belong to the members and shall not be misappropriated for other purposes. The trade association chamber of commerce shall formulate self-discipline management measures and agree on the deduction methods such as margin and deposit. When a member withuses the meeting or should return it in accordance with the agreement, the relevant fees shall be refunded in full.

Chapter VI Handling of Violations

48th trade association chamber of commerce in violation of the relevant provisions of the collection of membership fees, by the civil affairs department in accordance with the law.
Article 49: If a trade association or chamber of commerce collects administrative fees in violation of relevant regulations, the market supervision department shall deal with it in accordance with laws, administrative regulations, local regulations, and relevant documents of the Party Central Committee and the State Council.
Article 50 if a trade association or chamber of commerce collects business service fees in violation of relevant regulations, the market supervision department shall deal with it in accordance with the law and regulations in accordance with the the People's Republic of China Price Law, the provisions on Administrative penalties for Price violations, the regulations on optimizing the Business Environment, and local laws and regulations.
Trade associations and chambers of commerce operating service charges in violation of other laws and regulations, in accordance with the relevant provisions to bear the corresponding legal responsibility.
Article 51 If a trade association or chamber of commerce collects other fees in violation of relevant regulations, it shall be dealt with by the relevant departments in accordance with the law and regulations in accordance with their functions and powers.
Article 52: If the market supervision department finds clues about party members, cadres, and public officials suspected of violating discipline and crimes during the supervision and inspection of industry associations and chambers of commerce, they shall promptly transfer them to the discipline inspection and supervision agency with jurisdiction for handling.

Chapter VII Supplementary Provisions

Article 53 The name is suffixed with "Trade Association", "Federation", "Promotion Association", "Society" and "Research Association". The charging behavior of social organizations registered with the civil affairs department shall refer to this guide.
Article 54 This Guide only provides general guidelines for compliance with the charging behavior of trade associations and chambers of commerce, and is not mandatory. Where laws, regulations and policy documents have special provisions on the fees charged by trade associations and chambers of commerce, such provisions shall apply.