Measures for Regulating the Discretionary Powers in Imposing Agricultural Administrative Penalties.

These Measures are enacted in accordance with the Law of the People's Republic of China on Administrative Penalty and the relevant provisions issued by the State Council, aiming at regulating the agriculture-related administrative law enforcement, ensuring that competent agriculture and rural affairs authorities exercise their discretionary powers in imposing agricultural administrative penalties in a legal, reasonable and appropriate manner, and protecting the legitimate rights and interests of citizens, legal persons and other organizations.
The exercise of discretionary powers in imposing agricultural administrative penalties shall be consistent with the purpose of law and eliminate the interference of irrelevant factors, and the measures and means adopted shall be necessary and appropriate. The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs may, as needed for unifying and standardizing the national agricultural administrative law enforcement discretionary criteria, develop discretionary benchmarks with respect to specific agricultural administrative penalty items.