The General Office of the State Council issued a circular on May 25, outlining requirements and specifying functions for implementing the 2020 Guiding Catalog for Integrated Administrative Law Enforcement Items in Agriculture.

The catalog requires efforts to reform integrated administrative law enforcement in agriculture and coordinate related functions and resources to avoid law enforcement overlapping among different administrative organs at different levels.

The catalog mainly lists administrative penalties and compulsory administrative items introduced to agriculture according to laws and administrative regulations, and administrative penalties, including warnings and fines, according to department regulations. These will be adjusted according to procedures.

Items that cannot be justified by any current law or regulation should be removed, the circular noted.

Work should be done to reduce law enforcement levels and encourage more law enforcement teams to work at the local level, it said.

The document also called for efforts to formulate a unified operating manual to instruct integrated administrative law enforcement in agriculture, based on transparency, efficiency and real needs.

Related items should be included on local platforms managing integrated administrative law enforcement, and cross-departmental engagement and coordination should be strengthened.

Related departments should focus on administrative items closely connected with agriculture, market entities and the people. They should solve problems of the most concern to make market entities and the people feel reform achievements, according to the circular.

The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs should strengthen work instruction to local departments, help them improve law enforcement procedures and shoulder responsibilities, as well as intensify supervision to improve law enforcement efficiency.