Regulations of Jiangsu Province on Case-Related Property Price Appraisal

· Document Number：Announcement No. 116 of the Standing Committee of the Tenth People’s Congress of Jiangsu Province

· Area of Law： Pricing

· Level of Authority： Provincial Local Regulations

· Date issued：07-28-2006

· Effective Date：10-01-2006

· Status： Effective

· Issuing Authority： Jiangsu Province People's Congress (incl. Standing Committee)

Announcement of the Standing Committee of the Tenth People's Congress of Jiangsu Province
(No.116)
The Regulations of Jiangsu Province on Case-Related Property Price Appraisal, adopted at the Twenty-Forth Meeting of the Standing Committee of the Tenth People's Congress of Jiangsu Province on July 28, 2006, are hereby promulgated and shall enter into effect as of October 1, 2006.
July 28, 2006
Regulations of Jiangsu Province on Case-Related Property Price Appraisal
(Adopted at the Twenty-Forth Meeting of the Standing Committee of the Tenth People's Congress of Jiangsu Province on July 28, 2006)
Chapter I General Provisions
Article 1 These Regulations are enacted in accordance with the Pricing Law of the People's Republic of China and other relevant laws and administrative regulations, in light of the specific situation of this Province, and for the purposes of strengthening the administration of case-related property price appraisal, regulating the activities of case-related property price appraisal, guaranteeing the smooth running of the judicial, administrative law enforcement and arbitration activities, and safeguarding the interests of the State and the legitimate rights and interests of citizens, legal persons and other organizations.
Article 2 These Regulations shall apply to the appraisal of prices of case-related property within the administrative region of this Province. Where the laws and administrative regulations provide otherwise, those provisions shall prevail.
Article 3The case-related property price appraisal as used in these Regulations refers to the activities of the price appraisal agency, as entrusted by the judicial organ, the administrative law enforcement organ or the arbitration institution (hereinafter referred to as the case-handling organ (institution), to conduct price appraisal or certification on the tangible property, intangible assets, and paid services which the case-handling organ (institution) touches upon their prices, uncertain or difficult to ascertain, in the case-handling process.
Article 4 The competent price administrative department of the local people's government at or above the county level shall be responsible to carry out supervision and administration on the case-related property price appraisal activities within its administrative region.
Article 5 The case-related property price appraisal activities shall be conducted in adherence to the principles of legality, objectivity, fairness, scientificness and efficiency.
The price appraisal agency and price appraisal personnel shall independently conduct the case-related property price appraisal activities according to law and no organization or individual shall interfere.
Chapter II　Price Appraisal Agency and Price Appraisal Personnel
Article 6 The agency engaged in the case-related property price appraisal shall obtain the qualification for price appraisal agencies granted by the competent price administrative department of the State or the Province according to law. Where the laws and administrative regulations provide otherwise, those provisions shall prevail.
The price certification center set up by the competent price administrative department of the local people's government at or above the county level is the organ specially engaged in the appraisal of the case-related property prices, is a non-profit public institution, and shall not engage itself in the price evaluation business as conducted by social intermediaries.
Article 7 Personnel engaged in case-related property price appraisal (hereinafter referred to as price appraisal personnel) shall obtain the qualification certificates for price appraisal issued by the State according to law, and shall not begin their practice until registered with the competent price administrative department of the State.
According to the provisions of the Measures on the Administration of Accrediting Practicing Qualification for Price Appraisers, the persons who have obtained the relevant professional qualification certificates for price appraisal issued by the State may engage in case-related property price appraisal after they are accredited by the competent price administrative department of the State or the Province.
Article 8 The competent price administrative department of the Province shall make known to the public on a regular base the name lists of the case-related property price appraisal agencies and price appraisal personnel that have obtained the corresponding qualification in accordance with the provisions of the State.
Article 9 The price appraisal agency shall not commit the following acts in the case-related property price appraisal activities:
(1) transferring the entrusted price appraisal business to others;
(2) altering, leasing, lending out or transferring in other illegal forms its qualification certificate;
(3) issuing fake price appraisal conclusion documents;
(4) offering rebates to the case handling organ (institution);
(5) other illegal acts as prescribed by laws and regulations.
Article 10 The price appraisal personnel shall comply with the professional ethics, practice disciplines and technical operation standards in conducting the case-related property price appraisal, and shall not commit the following acts:
(1) practicing in two price appraisal agencies simultaneously;
(2) accepting price appraisal business in the name of an individual;
(3) extorting or accepting money or articles from the party concerned or seeking other improper gains;
(4) taking advantage of the relevant information obtained from the price appraisal activities to engage in other activities beyond price appraisal;
(5) disclosing secrets of the State, the case handling organ (institution) or the relevant parties concerned;
(6) issuing fake appraisal conclusion documents;
(7) other illegal acts as prescribed by laws or regulations.
Article 11 During the course of the case-related property price appraisal, the price appraisal person shall recuse himself under one of the following circumstances and the party concerned has the right to apply for such recusal:
(1) he is the party to the case or the attorney of the case, or is the close relative of the party to the case or the attorney of the case;
(2) he or his close relative has interest in the case;
(3) he is related to the party to the case in other ways, which may affect objective and fair conduct of price appraisal.
Article 12 The relevant trade organizations such as the price certification association shall strengthen professional guidance and self-discipline on the price appraisal agencies and price appraisal personnel.
The price certification center shall enhance its self-construction, regulate appraisal practice, and improve the quality of the professional personnel. The price certification center of the Province shall intensify its trade administration and professional guidance on the price certification centers of the cities or counties.
Article 13 Any unit or individual who finds out that a price appraisal agency or a price appraisal person commits any act as provided in Article 9 and Article 10 of these Regulations during the case-related property price appraisal, has the right to report to the competent price administrative department. The competent price administrative department shall investigate and handle the case within 30 days from the receipt of the report and shall inform the reporter by written notice of the handling result.
Chapter III Price Appraisal Procedures
Article 14 Where it is necessary to carry out price appraisal when the judicial organ handles a criminal case or an administrative law enforcement organ handles an administrative law enforcement case, the case handling organ shall entrust the price appraisal to the price certification center.
For case-related property price appraisal involved in a civil litigation case, an administrative litigation case or an arbitration case, where the parties concerned have agreed upon the choice of the price appraisal agency, the case handling organ (institution) shall determine the price appraisal agency in compliance with the agreement reached by the parties; where no agreement is reached, the case handling organ (institution) shall determine a price appraisal agency through random selection. The price appraisal agencies as provided in Article 6 of these Regulations shall have equal rights to be selected at random by the case handling organ (institution).
Where the laws and administrative regulations provide otherwise, those provisions shall prevail.
Article 15 The case-related property price appraisal shall be conducted according to the following procedures:
(1) the case handling organ (institution) gives a trust;
(2) the price appraisal agency accepts the trust;
(3) the price appraisal agency conducts the appraisal;
(4) the price appraisal agency issues the price appraisal conclusion document.
Article 16 When entrusting price appraisal, the case handling organ (institution) shall provide relevant information truthfully and comprehensively, and issue the entrustment letter for price appraisal affixed with the official seal of the case handling organ (institution).
The entrustment letter for price appraisal shall include the following contents:
(1) name and address of the case handling organ (institution);
(2) name, quantity and other relevant information of the case-related property that needs to be appraised for its price;
(3) objective and requirement of the price appraisal;
(4) base date of the price appraisal;
(5) other information that needs clarification.
Article 17 After receiving the entrustment letter for price appraisal, the price appraisal agency shall implement examination and verification on the contents of the entrustment letter and the case-related property. Where it falls within the appraisal scope of the agency, the price appraisal agency shall accept the trust according to law and sign a price appraisal agreement with the case handling organ (institution).
Article 18 Where the price appraisal agency needs to keep the case-related property for appraisal, it shall obtain the consent from the case handling organ (institution) and complete the handover procedures. The price appraisal agency shall provide proper care for the case-related property it keeps and return it in a timely manner when the appraisal is finished.
Article 19 The price appraisal agency shall designate no less than 2 price appraisal persons to handle the matter after it accepts the trust.
When conducting the price appraisal, the price appraisal person may consult accounts, files and other documents relevant to the price appraisal on the strength of the letter of introduction issued by the price appraisal agency and his practicing qualification certificate, and make investigation into or seek evidence from the unit or individuals that are relevant to the entrusted matter.
The price appraisal person shall perform cross-examination duties according to law.
Article 20 The price appraisal agency shall take into consideration factors such as the replacement price, wear, quality status, technical parameters and expected profitability of the case-related property at the base date of the price appraisal, and carry out the price appraisal on the case-related property according to the following provisions:
(1) where the case-related property falls into the government-fixed price category, its price shall be calculated based on the government-fixed price;
(2) where the case-related property falls into the government-guide price category, its price shall be calculated based on the base price of the government-guidance price and with reference to the actual local price level;
(3) where the case-related property falls into the market-regulated price category, its price shall be calculated with reference to the intermediate market price level for the property of the same variety present-in-area.
Where the State provides otherwise for the pricing standards and calculating methods, those provisions shall prevail.
Article 21 For the case-related property that has been lost or has been changed in its physical form, its price may be appraised based on the evidencing materials verified by the case handling organ (institution) and with reference to the price level for the property of the same variety in the similar physical form at the base date of the price appraisal.
Article 22 For other special case-related property such as cultural relics, non-cultural-relics like post stamps, calligraphies and paintings, valuable metals, jewels, jades and their products, and intangible assets, where quality inspection or technical appraisal needs to be done according to law, such inspection or appraisal shall be carried out first with the consent of the case handling organ (institution) by the relevant legally-designated organ, special organ, or relevant experts, and the price appraisal organ (institution) shall work out the price appraisal conclusion in light of the basis provided.
Article 23 The price appraisal organ shall, within the time limit agreed upon in the price appraisal agreement, work out the price appraisal conclusion and issue a case-related property price appraisal conclusion document to the case handling organ (institution). The time limit agreed upon in the price appraisal agreement shall not exceed the statutory deadline for case handling.
Article 24 The following items shall be specified in the case related property price appraisal conclusion document:
(1) names and addresses of the case handling organ (institution) and the price appraisal agency;
(2) the objective, content , scope and base date of the price appraisal;
(3) the basis, approaches, and process of the price appraisal;
(4) the price appraisal conclusion;
(5) other issues that need to be clarified;
(6) issuing date of the price appraisal conclusion and the signature of the price appraisal person.
The price appraisal conclusion document shall be signed by the person in charge of the price appraisal agency and affixed with the official seal of the price appraisal agency.
Article 25 Where a supplementary appraisal needs to be done for the price appraisal conclusion due to new case-related property in the same case or other new factors that will affect the price appraisal conclusion, the case handling organ (institution) may make a request to the original price appraisal agency for supplementary appraisal. The parties concerned may also apply to the case handling organ (institution) for supplementary appraisal.
A new appraisal shall be conducted where one of the following circumstances occurs:
(1) the price appraisal agency or the price appraisal person does not possess the corresponding qualification;
(2) the price appraisal person fails to recuse as he should;
(3) the price appraisal procedure gravely violates the law;
(4) the basis for the price appraisal conclusion is obviously inadequate;
(5) other circumstances where the price appraisal conclusions is confirmed as incapable of being used as evidence after cross-examination.
Article 26 The case-related property price appraisal conclusion document issued by the price appraisal agency shall be the basis for determining the price of the case-related property after it is confirmed according to law by the case handling organ (institution).
Article 27 The price appraisal agency shall establish and perfect the archive management system and properly keep the relevant documents created in the price appraisal process. The period for keeping the price appraisal archives shall not be less than 10 years.
Article 28 The case handling organ (institution) and its staff members shall not extort or accept rebate, or seek other improper gains in the process of entrusting price appraisal.
Chapter IV Legal Liabilities
Article 29 For any agency that fails to obtain the corresponding price appraisal qualification according to law but engages itself in the case-related property price appraisal without authorization, the appraisal conclusion issued by it shall be null and void, and the competent price administrative department shall give it a warning, confiscate its illegal gains, and concurrently impose on it a fine not less than the amount of the illegal gains but not more than 5 times the amount; where there is no illegal gains or the amount of the illegal gains is difficult to confirm, a fine not less than 5,000 yuan but not more than 20,000 yuan shall be imposed.
Article 30 Where the price appraisal agency commits anu of the acts provided in Items (1), (2), (3) and (4) of Article 9 of these Regulations, the competent price administrative department shall order it to make rectification and concurrently impose on it a fine not less than 5,000 yuan but not more than 20,000 yuan; where the case is serious, the qualification certificate issuing organ shall revoke its corresponding qualification certificate according to law.
Article 31 Any price appraisal person who commits any of the acts provided in Article 10 of these Regulations shall be given a warning by the competent price administrative department; where the case is serious, his practicing qualification certificate shall be revoked by the certificate issuing organ according to law; where a crime is constituted, he shall be investigated for criminal liability according to law.
Article 32 Where losses are caused to the parties concerned due to the failure of the price appraisal agency to properly keep the case-related property, compensation shall be paid according to law.
Article 33 Where the case handling organ (institution) or its staff members, in violation of the provisions of these Regulations, commits any of the following acts, the person directly in charge and other persons directly responsible shall be given administrative sanctions by the relevant organ (institution); where a crime is constituted, criminal liabilities shall be investigated according to law:
(1) extorting or accepting rebates or seeking other improper gains;
(2) entrusting an agency without legal qualification to conduct case-related property price appraisal;
(3) not selecting the price appraisal agency at random as it should;
(4) deliberately providing fake information or documents, or interfering with the price appraisal activities in violation of the law.
Chapter V Supplementary Provisions
Article 34 The case-related property price appraisal fees shall be collected by the price appraisal agency according to the standards specified by the authorized departments of the State and the Province.
The fund needed by the price certification center for the criminal case related property price appraisal it undertakes shall be guaranteed by the fiscal budget at the same level; the fees it collects from other case-related property price appraisal shall be managed by establishing separate accounts for revenues and expenditure.
Article 35 These Regulations shall come into effect as of October 1, 2006. The Measures of Jiangsu Province on Administration of Case-Related Property Price Appraisal promulgated for implementation on December 10, 2001 shall be repealed simultaneously.