Beijing Market Supervision and Administration Bureau: Live streaming sales must not mislead consumers with false statements such as “the lowest price on the entire network”
2024-08-10
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China Business Network reported on August 9 that according to the website of the Beijing Municipal Administration for Market Regulation, the Beijing Municipal Administration for Market Regulation recently issued an announcement on the "Beijing Live Streaming Compliance Guidelines" (hereinafter referred to as the "Guidelines").
The Guidelines state that when live broadcast room operators, live broadcast personnel, and live broadcast service agencies that should perform corresponding responsibilities according to written agreements with live broadcast room operators and live broadcast personnel, they should clearly publicize the conditions or deadlines when carrying out promotional activities. If the promotional activities have limited quantity requirements, the specific quantity of the promotional goods should be clearly stated, and after the promotional goods are sold out, it should be clearly stated immediately. If promotions are conducted by means of raffles, gifts, points exchange, etc., the information on prize sales, the name and quantity of the gifted items, or the conditions for exchange should be truthfully stated, and the prizes, gifts, and exchanged goods should meet the quality requirements and shall not harm the rights and interests of consumers.
When conducting sales promotion activities by means of price comparison, the compared prices and sales prices shall be clearly marked or indicated in other ways that are easy for consumers to understand. The compared prices shall be true and accurate, and shall not mislead consumers by false statements such as "the lowest price on the entire network".
The following is the original text:
Announcement of Beijing Municipal Administration for Market Regulation on the Release of the "Beijing Live Streaming Sales Compliance Guidelines"
In order to promote the high-quality development of the live streaming e-commerce industry, the Municipal Administration for Market Regulation has formulated the "Beijing Live Streaming E-commerce Compliance Guidelines", which are now released and hereby announced.
Beijing Municipal Administration for Market Regulation
August 8, 2024
Beijing Live Streaming Sales Compliance Guidelines
Chapter I General Provisions
Article 1 These guidelines are formulated in accordance with the Electronic Commerce Law of the People's Republic of China, the Advertising Law of the People's Republic of China, the Anti-Unfair Competition Law of the People's Republic of China, the Consumer Protection Law of the People's Republic of China, the Product Quality Law of the People's Republic of China, the Food Safety Law of the People's Republic of China, the Trademark Law of the People's Republic of China, the Patent Law of the People's Republic of China, and other laws and regulations, as well as the Measures for the Supervision and Administration of Online Transactions and the Measures for the Administration of Online Live Marketing (Trial Implementation), in order to supervise and guide all parties involved in live streaming sales to operate in compliance with regulations, protect the legitimate rights and interests of consumers, and promote orderly competition and innovative development in the industry.
Article 2 These guidelines apply to live streaming sales activities conducted in this city.
Live streaming sales refers to the transaction activities of selling goods or providing services through live streaming on the Internet.
The operator of a live streaming e-commerce platform refers to an online platform that provides online business venues, transaction matchmaking, information release and other services to operators who sell goods or provide services through online live streaming, so that both parties or multiple parties can independently carry out transaction activities. The operator should perform the responsibilities and obligations of an e-commerce platform operator in accordance with the provisions of the E-Commerce Law.
Live streaming room operators refer to individuals, legal persons, and other organizations that register accounts on live streaming platforms or open live streaming rooms through self-built websites and other network services to engage in live streaming. When selling goods or providing services through live streaming platforms, the responsibilities and obligations of operators within e-commerce platforms should be fulfilled in accordance with the provisions of the E-Commerce Law.
Live streaming sales personnel refer to individuals who sell goods or provide services directly to the public during live streaming.
A live streaming e-commerce service agency refers to a specialized agency that provides planning, operation, brokerage, training, etc. for live streaming e-commerce personnel to carry out live streaming e-commerce activities.
Article 3 Those engaged in live streaming sales shall abide by relevant national laws, regulations and rules, comply with relevant provisions such as the "Regulations on the Management of Online Live Streaming Marketing (Trial)" formulated by the Cyberspace Administration of China and other departments, safeguard national interests and social public interests, abide by business ethics, and shall not harm the legitimate rights and interests of other operators and consumers.
Chapter II Compliance Requirements for Live Streaming Platform Operators
Article 4 Operators of live streaming platforms for selling goods shall actively fulfill their registration and verification obligations, register the identity, address, contact information, administrative license and other information provided by operators of live streaming rooms who apply to open product or service promotion functions in accordance with the law, establish registration files, and actively take technical measures to verify.
If the above information of the operator of the live streaming room changes, the information should be updated in a timely manner and reported to the platform.
Article 5 Operators of live streaming platforms shall follow the principles of openness, fairness and impartiality, establish and improve service agreements and behavioral norms for live streaming activities, clearly define the rights and obligations in terms of opening and closing product or service sharing functions, product and service quality, commercial promotion, consumer rights protection, intellectual property protection, etc., and continuously publicize information such as service agreements and behavioral norms, or link identifiers of the above information.
Article 6 Live streaming platforms should formulate a catalog of goods or services that are prohibited or restricted from marketing, clearly specify the goods or services that are prohibited or restricted from marketing, and take effective measures to urge operators of live streaming studios to conduct marketing activities in accordance with the catalog requirements. Operators of live streaming studios should be urged to inspect the goods being marketed before conducting live streaming sales.
Article 7 Live streaming platforms should establish a system for checking and patrolling live streaming information. If the operator of a live streaming room is found to have violated relevant laws, regulations, or rules, they should promptly report to the market supervision and management department at or above the county level where the platform is located, and take necessary measures.
Article 8 Operators of live streaming platforms for selling goods shall establish a publicity mechanism for the results of handling serious illegal and irregular behaviors. If measures are taken against serious illegal and irregular behaviors of operators of live streaming rooms for selling goods, the results of the handling shall be publicized in an appropriate manner.
Article 9 Live streaming platforms for selling goods shall record and preserve live streaming information and historical live streaming information published on the platform to ensure the integrity and availability of the information. Live streaming platforms for selling goods shall formulate rules for preserving marketing information and historical live streaming information based on the characteristics of the goods or services, and shall preserve live streaming videos of online trading activities for no less than three years from the end of the live streaming.
Article 10 Live streaming platforms shall establish a credit management system for operators of live streaming rooms, establish a credit evaluation mechanism, impose credit penalties on operators of live streaming rooms that violate laws and regulations, and strengthen awareness of compliance and trustworthiness. The credit evaluation mechanism shall be publicized in an appropriate manner.
Article 11 Operators of live streaming platforms shall strengthen education, training and management of operators of live streaming rooms, establish and improve behavior control mechanisms, and guide live streaming service agencies and personnel to strictly abide by laws, regulations, relevant provisions and professional ethics.
Article 12 Operators of live streaming e-commerce platforms shall perform other relevant obligations prescribed by laws, regulations, rules and relevant documents.
Chapter 3 Compliance Requirements for Live Streaming Sales Practitioners
Article 13 Live broadcast room operators, live broadcast sales personnel and live broadcast sales service agencies shall consciously strengthen professional ethics, strengthen social responsibility, establish a good image and regulate their professional behavior. Virtual images and content synthesized using artificial intelligence technology shall refer to these compliance requirements.
Article 14 The operators of live streaming rooms and live streaming sales personnel, as well as the live streaming sales service agencies that should perform corresponding responsibilities according to the written agreement with the operators of the live streaming rooms and live streaming sales personnel, shall maintain a positive and healthy live streaming environment, and be responsible for the content or information published during live streaming activities, such as the live streaming cover, live streaming title, and live streaming content.
Article 15 Live broadcast room operators, live broadcast personnel and live broadcast service agencies shall adhere to the correct political direction, public opinion orientation and value orientation, and shall not violate public order and good customs or create social public opinion to carry out commercial marketing. Actively practice the core socialist values, adhere to a healthy style and taste, and consciously oppose illegal and immoral phenomena, traffic supremacy, abnormal aesthetics, "fan circle" chaos, money worship, food waste, pan-entertainment and other bad phenomena.
Article 16 Live broadcast room operators, live broadcast sales personnel, and live broadcast sales service agencies that should perform corresponding responsibilities according to written agreements with live broadcast room operators and live broadcast sales personnel should inspect the marketed goods and shall not provide or promote the following goods or services through live broadcasts that are prohibited from production and sale, prohibited from online transactions, and prohibited from commercial promotion in accordance with laws, regulations, rules and relevant provisions:
(1) Commodities that have been explicitly eliminated and stopped from sale by the State and commodities that have become obsolete or have gone bad;
(2) Goods or services that do not comply with mandatory national standards for protecting human health and personal and property safety;
(III) Goods without quality inspection certificates or without the product name, manufacturer's name and address clearly marked in Chinese (cross-border goods shall be subject to relevant regulations);
(iv) Commodities that are required by law to obtain a license, registration or compulsory certification but have not obtained it;
(5) Goods or services that damage national interests and the public interest and violate public order and good morals;
(6) Goods or services that do not meet environmental protection requirements, and wild animals and their products;
(VII) Goods or services that infringe on the intellectual property rights of others;
(8) Drugs included in the "List of Prohibited Drugs from Online Sales" issued by the State Drug Administration;
(IX) Tobacco products (including electronic cigarettes), special nutritionally complete formula foods for special medical purposes, and other goods or services that are prohibited from online trading by laws and administrative regulations;
(10) Prescription drugs, infant milk products, beverages and other foods that claim to fully or partially replace breast milk, and other goods or services that are prohibited by laws and administrative regulations from being advertised in mass media;
(XI) Other goods or services that are prohibited from trading.
Article 17 Live streaming sales room operators, live streaming sales personnel, and live streaming sales service agencies that should perform corresponding responsibilities according to written agreements with live streaming room operators and live streaming sales personnel, when publishing commercial advertisements during live streaming, shall strictly review and approve them in accordance with regulations and meet the following requirements:
(1) When publishing advertisements for food, cosmetics, or beauty products, they must not mention disease prevention or treatment functions, and must not use medical terms or terms that could easily cause the products and services being marketed to be confused with drugs, medical devices, or medical services;
(ii) Advertisements for drugs, medical devices, health foods, and special medical formula foods must comply with the relevant provisions of the Advertising Law and must not disguise advertisements for medical treatments, drugs, medical devices, health foods, and special medical formula foods by introducing health and wellness knowledge;
(3) Alcohol advertisements must not induce or encourage drinking or promote excessive drinking, and must not show any drinking actions;
(4) When publishing education and training advertisements, no explicit or implicit guarantee of results may be made, and no name or image of educational institutions or beneficiaries may be used for recommendation or certification;
(V) When publishing financial, quasi-financial, or investment advertisements, reasonable reminders or warnings of possible risks and responsibilities should be given, and no guaranteed promises of future results, returns, etc. should be made;
(6) When publishing real estate advertisements, the housing information shall be true and shall not contain promises of appreciation or investment returns, nor shall it make misleading publicity about transportation, commercial, cultural and educational facilities or other municipal conditions that are being planned or constructed;
(VII) Advertisements for crop seeds, breeding livestock and poultry, aquatic seedlings and breeding, etc., must not contain assertions or guarantees of efficacy, must not make guaranteed promises of economic benefits, and must not use the names or images of scientific research institutions, users, etc. for recommendation or certification;
(8) Where advertisements use data, statistics, survey results, abstracts, quotations or other references, they shall be truthful and accurate, and the source shall be indicated. Where the references have an applicable scope and validity period, they shall be clearly indicated;
(IX) Other provisions of the Advertising Law and other laws, regulations and rules.
Article 18 The operators of live streaming rooms and live streaming sales personnel, as well as the live streaming sales service agencies that should perform corresponding responsibilities according to the written agreement with the operators of the live streaming rooms and live streaming sales personnel, should carefully check the qualifications of merchants and products during the product selection process. If the provision of goods or services requires relevant administrative licenses, they need to check the corresponding licensing status.
Article 19 If the marketed goods involve trademarks, patents, certifications and other certificates, as well as the names and images of other people, the operators of the live broadcast room, the live broadcast sales personnel, and the live broadcast service agencies that should perform corresponding responsibilities according to the written agreement with the operators of the live broadcast room and the live broadcast sales personnel, shall carefully check the relevant certificates and authorization materials.
Article 20: When live broadcast room operators, live broadcast personnel, and live broadcast service agencies that should perform corresponding responsibilities according to written agreements with live broadcast room operators and live broadcast personnel carry out promotional activities, if there are additional conditions or deadlines for the promotional activities, they shall clearly publicize the conditions or deadlines. If the promotional activities have limited quantity requirements, the specific number of promotional goods shall be clearly stated, and after the promotional goods are sold out, they shall be clearly stated immediately. If promotions are carried out by means of raffles, gifts, points exchange, etc., the prize sales information, the name and quantity of the gifted items, or the conditions for exchange shall be truthfully stated, and the prizes, gifts, and exchanged goods shall meet the quality requirements and shall not harm the rights and interests of consumers.
When conducting sales promotion activities by means of price comparison, the compared prices and sales prices shall be clearly marked or indicated in other ways that are easy for consumers to understand. The compared prices shall be true and accurate, and shall not mislead consumers by false statements such as "the lowest price on the entire network".
Article 21 Operators of live streaming rooms, live streaming sales personnel, and live streaming sales service agencies engaged in live streaming sales activities must comply with the provisions of the Anti-Unfair Competition Law and must not make false or misleading commercial advertisements about the performance, functions, quality, sales status, user evaluations, etc. of goods or services to deceive or mislead consumers.
Article 22 The operator of a live broadcast room selling goods shall publicize the name of the goods or services sold through live broadcast in a prominent manner in the virtual live broadcast venue, based on the live broadcast sessions, as well as the name, business address, contact information and other information of the actual provider of the goods or services.
Article 23 Operators of live streaming rooms selling goods shall establish quality control and compliance management mechanisms for live streaming goods, and strengthen the review and approval of aspects such as live streaming product selection and live streaming selling points.
Article 24 The operator of a live broadcast room selling goods shall establish a management system for the live broadcast sales personnel, do a good job in live broadcast monitoring to prevent the live broadcast sales personnel from committing illegal and irregular behaviors during the live broadcast, and establish a qualification assessment and evaluation mechanism for the live broadcast sales personnel.
Article 25 During live streaming sales activities, those who sell goods should regulate their own behavior and promote goods or services to the public in accordance with the law.
(1) If a live streaming salesperson or live streaming sales room operator is a natural person, he or she must be at least 16 years old; if a minor over the age of 16 applies to become a live streaming salesperson or live streaming sales room operator, he or she must obtain the consent of the guardian;
(2) Dress appropriately and use civilized language; do not harass, slander, abuse or intimidate others, or infringe upon the legitimate rights and interests of others;
(3) The price, name, origin, producer information, performance, important parameters, specifications, grade, production date, shelf life and other contents of the product being advertised must be consistent with the graphic and textual information of the product;
(iv) Where a person recommends or certifies a product or service under his or her own name or image and thus acts as an advertising spokesperson, he or she shall perform and bear the responsibilities and obligations of an advertising spokesperson.
Article 26 Live streaming sales service agencies shall strengthen education and training, daily management, and standardized guidance for online anchors. Strengthen management and restraint of online anchors, provide brokerage services in accordance with the law, and safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of online anchors.
Article 27 The operators of live streaming rooms for selling goods, as well as the live streaming service agencies that should perform corresponding responsibilities according to the written agreement with the room operators and live streaming sales personnel, shall protect consumers' right to know and right to choose, actively assist consumers in safeguarding their legitimate rights and interests, establish a convenient and effective online complaint, reporting and dispute resolution mechanism, publicize the complaint and reporting channels, and promptly and properly handle consumers' complaints and reports on illegal and irregular marketing practices.
Article 28 The operators of live streaming rooms, live streaming personnel and live streaming service agencies shall perform other relevant obligations stipulated by laws, regulations, rules and relevant documents.
Chapter IV Supplementary Provisions
Article 29 encourages operators of live streaming e-commerce platforms to establish joint emergency response, joint prevention and control cooperation mechanisms with local regulatory authorities, and to actively participate in the governance of illegal and irregular issues in live streaming e-commerce.
Article 30 Where the operator of a live streaming e-commerce platform, an operator of a live streaming e-commerce room, live streaming e-commerce personnel, or a live streaming e-commerce service agency violates the provisions of laws and administrative regulations, the relevant departments shall investigate and deal with them in accordance with the law.
Article 31 These guidelines shall be interpreted by the Beijing Municipal Administration for Market Regulation and shall be implemented from the date of publication.
