Homogeneity of the same line and standard makes products more abundant

Expand the scope, strengthen supervision, and help foreign trade enterprises connect with domestic market standards.
Homogeneity of the same line and standard makes products more abundant

Promoting the implementation of the project of "same line, same standard and homogeneity" can not only help foreign trade enterprises solve the problem of standard convergence in entering the domestic market, but also help to promote the unification of domestic and foreign product standards and better meet the demand of consumption upgrading in the domestic market.

Through the "three links" public information service platform, some foreign trade enterprises successfully entered the domestic market. Next, the scope of application of the "three links" will be extended to the fields of general consumer goods and industrial products, further boosting foreign trade enterprises to realize "walking on two legs" in the domestic and international markets.

Sweet-scented osmanthus chicken and organic tea … In the food area of Shenzhen Suibao Department Store, people are crowded. In recent years, many foreign trade enterprises actively explore the domestic market and recommend products that originally focused on the international market to domestic consumers.

"Promoting the implementation of the’ three links’ project will not only help foreign trade enterprises solve the problem of standard convergence in entering the domestic market, but also help to promote the standardization of domestic and foreign products in the long run and better meet the consumption upgrading needs of the domestic market." Yang Guoliang, deputy director of the Foreign Trade Department of the Ministry of Commerce, said.

The Central Committee of the Communist Party of China’s Proposal on Formulating the Fourteenth Five-year Plan for National Economic and Social Development and the Long-term Target for 2035 calls for promoting the homogeneity of the same line and standard. What is the homogeneity of the same line and standard? What is the current progress of the "Three Tong" work? The reporter conducted an interview.

Provide opportunities for enterprises to open up markets and build brands.

In 2017, Shenzhen Suibao Department Store newly established the "Three Tong" food area. Up to now, the special area has covered many categories such as quick-frozen pastry, frozen aquatic products and meat, leisure snacks, seasonings, drinks and so on. "These products were originally for export only, but now they can be bought at home, which is convenient to buy and safe to eat." Ms. Wang, a citizen of Shenzhen, is full of praise for the "Three Tong" food.

The so-called "three products" means that enterprises produce products that can be exported and sold at home in the same production line according to the same standards and quality requirements. Specifically, "on the same line" means that the products exported and sold domestically are in the same production chain and produced according to the same production system; "Same standard" means that the product standard is mainly based on the standard of the importing country (region). If the specific indicators of the product standard appear to be higher or stricter than the export in China, it shall be implemented according to China’s domestic standards; "Homogeneity" means that the products exported and sold domestically achieve the same quality level.

For consumers, it is undoubtedly good news to fully implement the "three similarities". This means that more high-quality products will enter the domestic market and domestic consumers will have more choices.

For domestic foreign trade enterprises, the implementation of the "Three Links" project provides enterprises with an opportunity to open up markets and build brands. "The full implementation of the’ three links’ project will help enhance consumers’ trust in production enterprises. Once a good trust relationship is established, producers and operators will form a good closed loop of supply and consumption with consumers. " Lin Xueliang, general manager of Guangdong Haoyang Frozen Food Co., Ltd. said.

Hunan Guoxiu Food is the beneficiary of the "Three Tong" project. With its excellent taste, the canned fruits and vegetables of Guoxiu Food successfully entered the European and American markets. However, influenced by the concept of consumption, the products of enterprises have been tepid in the domestic market. "Thanks to the’ Three Tong’ project, we have opened up the market." Yang Guoxiu, chairman of the company, said that since becoming the first batch of "three-in-one" enterprises in 2016, Guoxiu has gradually opened up the domestic market, starting from scratch, and the annual sales volume of the domestic market has gradually increased to about 50,000 tons in the past two years.

Then, how can foreign trade enterprises join the "Three Tong" project? How to prove that your products meet the requirements of "three similarities"?

According to the relevant person in charge of the General Administration of Market Supervision, enterprises can declare to the society that their products meet the requirements of "three-in-one" through self-declaration or entrusting a third-party agency to conduct quality evaluation in accordance with the requirements of Announcement No.39 of the General Administration of Market Supervision.

At the same time, CNCA launched the "Three Tong" public information service platform in 2016. Consumers can log in directly and inquire about the information of "Three Tong" products and enterprises, as well as the information of physical stores and online sales channels of related products.

The "three links" public information service platform has settled in more than 3,000 enterprises.

Since 2016, the "Three Tong" project has been implemented for more than four years. Some interviewed enterprises said that the "Three Tong" project still lacks flexibility in marketing and channel construction, and the brand awareness of "Three Tong" is still not high enough.

Lin Xueliang said frankly that the sales channels of "Three Tong" products are relatively limited, and many domestic consumers are still unfamiliar with "Three Tong" products. "At the same time, there are still a large number of export enterprises that have failed to join the’ Three Tong’ project."

In order to help export enterprises tide over the difficulties better, the General Administration of Market Supervision issued an announcement in September 2020, which will open a fast track for the approval of domestic production and sales of export enterprises and actively support export enterprises to carry out the work of "three links".

On the one hand, the announcement stipulates that the General Administration of Market Supervision will no longer make administrative provisions on the technical requirements and evaluation methods of the "Three Tong". By lowering the threshold and strengthening post-event supervision, more enterprises can join the "Three Tong" project.

On the other hand, the announcement proposes to hand over the "three-in-one" public information service platform built by CNCA to relevant social organizations. The "three links" promotion alliance is responsible for the operation and maintenance of the platform, further enhancing the flexibility of the platform and improving the ability to expand business cooperation.

"Of course, the General Administration of Market Supervision will also strengthen the supervision of the platform, guide social organizations to continuously improve the information disclosure of’ three-in-one’ enterprises and products, and effectively build a platform reputation maintenance system to ensure the openness, transparency and fairness of platform information." Bo Yumin, deputy director of the Certification and Supervision Department of the General Administration of Market Supervision, said.

Up to now, the "Three Tong" public information service platform has settled in more than 3,000 food enterprises, with representative enterprises including Lee Kum Kee (Guangzhou) Food Co., Ltd., Qingdao Fusheng Co., Ltd. and Beijing Zhengda Egg Industry Co., Ltd..

"In addition to meeting the people’s growing needs for a better life and improving the quality of supply, the’ Three Tong’ project has also become an important means to build a new development pattern with the domestic big cycle as the main body and the domestic and international double cycles promoting each other." Danfu Liu, director of the Certification and Supervision Department of the General Administration of Market Supervision, said.

The scope of application will be extended to general consumer goods and industrial products.

"According to the announcement, the scope of application of’ Three Tong’ will be extended to the fields of general consumer goods and industrial products." Bo Yumin said.

According to reports, all export enterprises of consumer goods and general industrial products can show to the society that their products meet the requirements of "Three Tong" through self-declaration, or by entrusting a third-party agency for certification, and provide information to the "Three Tong" public information service platform on a voluntary basis.

In Shandong Ningjin Bolt Elevator Co., Ltd., the work of "three links" is in full swing. In the enterprise’s modern elevator manufacturing base of 200,000 square meters, domestic and export products are produced in the same production line, ensuring the same quality of products supplied to the domestic and international markets.

Li Fanggang, deputy director of Ningjin County Market Supervision Bureau, said: "In the next step, we should highlight the guidance and supervision functions, guide the application scope of’ Three Tong’ to the fields of general consumer goods and industrial products, and do a good job in the quality and safety supervision of’ Three Tong’ products while boosting economic development."

According to the relevant person in charge of the General Administration of Market Supervision, in the next step, the General Administration of Market Supervision will continue to carry out the "Three Tong" publicity and promotion activities, actively support foreign trade enterprises exploring the domestic market to create and promote brands, encourage relevant platforms to help enterprises carry out publicity and promotion activities, and promote the "Three Tong" products to enter supermarkets, e-commerce, communities, restaurants, campuses and canteens. (Reporter Li Xinping)