Frontier Health and Quarantine Law of the People's Republic of China (Revised in 2009)

Order of the President of the People's Republic of China No.18

August 27, 2009

(Adopted at the 18th session of the Standing Committee of the 6th National People's Congress on December 2, 1986; promulgated by the Order of the President of the People's Republic of China No.46 on December 2, 1986; firstly amended according to the Decision on the Revision of the Border Health and Quarantine Law of the People's Republic of China adopted at the 31st session of the Standing Committee of the 10th National People's Congress on December 29, 2007; and revised for the second time according to the Decision on Amending Certain Laws adopted at the 10th session of the Standing Committee of the 11th National People's Congress on August 27, 2009)

Contents
Chapter I General Provisions
Chapter II Quarantine
Chapter III Monitoring of Infectious Diseases
Chapter IV Health Supervision
Chapter V Legal Liability
Chapter VI Supplementary Provisions

Chapter I General Provisions

Article 1 This law is hereby established for the purposes of preventing infectious diseases from spreading into or out of the country, enforcing frontier health and quarantine inspection, and for the general protection of human health.

Article 2 Frontier health and quarantine offices shall be established at all international seaports, airports and ports of entry on land borders and boundary rivers (hereinafter referred to as "border ports") of the People's Republic of China. The said offices shall carry out the quarantining and monitoring of infectious diseases and health inspection in accordance with provisions of this law.
Health administration departments under administration of the State Council shall be in charge of frontier health and quarantine work throughout the country.

Article 3 Infectious diseases specified in this law shall include quarantinable infectious diseases and infectious diseases to be monitored.
Quarantinable infectious diseases shall include: plague, cholera, yellow fever, and other infectious diseases as specified and announced by the State Council.
Infectious diseases to be monitored shall be determined and announced by health administration departments under control of the State Council.

Article 4 All persons, vehicles and transport equipment, as well as other articles such as baggage, goods, and postal parcels that may transmit quarantinable infectious diseases, shall be subject to quarantine inspection upon entering or exiting the country. Entry or exit out of the country by said persons and others shall not be allowed without express permission from a frontier health and quarantine office. Detailed measures for implementing this article shall be articulated in the implementing rules of this law.

Article 5 If a frontier health and quarantine office should detect a quarantinable infectious disease or an infectious disease suspected to be quarantinable, the frontier health and quarantine office shall, in addition to taking all necessary measures, notify local health administration departments immediately and report to the health administration departments under the State Council as soon as possible (no later than 24 hours after detection of the quarantinable infectious disease or an infectious disease suspected to be quarantinable). Postal and telecommunications departments shall give priority to the communication of reports of infectious diseases.
Exchanges between the People's Republic of China and foreign countries concerning information on infectious diseases shall be handled by the health administration departments under control of the State Council in conjunction with other departments concerned.

Article 6 In the event of a breakout of a quarantinable infectious disease, within or outside China, the State Council may order relevant sections of the Chinese border to be closed or take other emergency measures as needed.

Chapter II Quarantine

Article 7 All persons and vehicles entering China shall submit to quarantine inspection at designated sites at the first border port of their arrival. No persons, with the exception of pilots, shall be allowed to board or exit any vehicles, and no articles such as baggage, goods, or postal parcels shall be loaded or unloaded without the express permission of the appropriate Chinese health and quarantine authorities. Detailed measures for the implementation of this article shall be articulated in the implementing rules of this law.

Article 8 All vehicles and persons exiting China shall be subject to quarantine inspection at their last border port of departure.

Article 9 Where foreign ships or aircraft anchor or land at places in China that are not designated as border ports, the persons in charge of said ships or aircraft shall immediately report to the nearest frontier health and quarantine office or to the local health administration department. With the exception of emergency situations, no person shall be allowed to board or exit the ships or aircraft, and no articles including baggage, goods, and postal parcels shall be loaded or unloaded without the permission of a frontier health and quarantine office or local health administration department.

Article 10 If a quarantinable infectious disease or an infectious disease suspected to be quarantinable is detected at a border port, or where human deaths at a border port are discovered to have been caused by non-accidental injuries or other unidentified causes, relevant departments at the border port and the person in charge of all applicable vehicles shall immediately report to the frontier health and quarantine office and apply for provisional quarantine inspection.

Article 11 In accordance with inspection results provided by quarantine doctors, the frontier health and quarantine office shall sign and issue a quarantine inspection certificate for entry or exit to vehicles that have been proven by inspection to be free of any infectious diseases or have been disinfected and uncontaminated.

Article 12 Any person infected with a quarantinable infectious disease shall be quarantined immediately by the frontier health and quarantine office. The period of quarantine shall be determined according to the results of the infected person's medical examination. Any person suspected to have been infected by a quarantinable infectious disease shall be detained for further inspection and the detention period shall be determined by the delitescence of such diseases that the person is suspected to have been infected with.
The corpse of any person who has been confirmed to have died from a quarantinable infectious disease shall be cremated at the nearest appropriate location.

Article 13 Any vehicle under entry quarantine inspection shall be subject to disinfection, de-ratting, treatment with insecticides, or other sanitation measures under the following circumstances:
1. The vehicle involved is from an area where a quarantinable infectious disease is an epidemic,
2. The vehicle involved is contaminated by a quarantinable infectious disease, or
3. The vehicle involved is found to have on board rodents or insect vectors which may affect human health.
In the event that the person in charge of a foreign vehicle refuses to accept sanitation measures, with the exception of extraordinary circumstances, such vehicles may be allowed to depart without delay from the territory of the People's Republic of China under the supervision of the frontier health and quarantine office.

Article 14 A frontier health and quarantine office shall carry out sanitation inspections and disinfect, de-rat, treat with insecticides, or apply other sanitation measures to articles such as baggage, goods, and postal parcels that come from an epidemic-stricken area and are contaminated by a quarantinable infectious disease or may act as a medium for a quarantinable infectious disease.
A consignor or an agent for transporting human corpses or human remains into or out of China must make declaration of said transportation to a frontier health and quarantine office. No such entry or exit shall be permitted without express permission of the health inspectors after successfully completing all inspection requirements.

Chapter III Monitoring of Infectious Diseases

Article 15 Frontier health and quarantine offices shall monitor all persons entering or exiting the People's Republic of China for quarantinable infectious diseases and shall take necessary preventative and control measures.

Article 16 Frontier health and quarantine offices shall be authorized to require all persons upon entry and exit to complete a health declaration form and produce certificates of inoculation, health certificates, or other pertinent documents.

Article 17 For persons with infectious diseases to be monitored, persons from overseas with epidemic infectious diseases to be monitored, or persons in close contact with patients suffering from infectious diseases to be monitored, the frontier health and quarantine offices shall: issue a medical convenience card to them, keep them for inspection, take other preventative measures, and report to the local health administration department in a timely manner. The local medical service entities shall give priority to treating those holding the aforementioned medial convenience cards.

Chapter IV Health Supervision

Article 18 Frontier health and quarantine offices shall supervise the hygienic and sanitary conditions of the border ports and the vehicles staying at such ports for entry or exit in accordance with relevant state health standards. Frontier health and quarantine offices shall:
1. Supervise and instruct all concerned personnel on the prevention and elimination of rodents and insect vectors,
2. inspect and examine food, drinking water, and facilities for the storage, supply and delivery thereof,
3. supervise the health condition of employees engaged in the supply of food and drinking water and check their health certificates, and
4. supervise and inspect the disposal of garbage, waste, sewage, excrement, and ballast water.


Article 19 Frontier health and quarantine offices shall appoint border port health supervisors to carry out assignments designated by the offices.
During the course of performing their assignments, border port health supervisors will be authorized to do the following: supervise the health and sanitary conditions of and give technical guidance to the border ports and vehicles entering or exiting the ports, make suggestions for the improvement of poor sanitary conditions and factors that may cause outbreaks of infectious diseases, and take necessary measures, in conjunction with relevant departments, for implementing sanitary measures.


Chapter V Legal Liability

Article 20 A frontier health and quarantine office may warn or fine any work unit or individual that has violated the provisions of this law by committing any of the following acts on the basis of the circumstances of said violations:
1. Evading quarantine inspection or withholding the truth in reports submitted to the frontier health and quarantine office, or
2. boarding or exiting from vehicles during entry or loading or unloading articles such as baggage, goods, or postal parcels without the permission of a frontier health and quarantine office and refusing to obey the office's instruction against such acts.
All fines collected shall be turned over to the state treasury.

Article 21 In the event that any concerned party is dissatisfied with the decision to impose fines made by the frontier health and quarantine office, the party may lodge a complaint with the local people's court within 15 days of receiving the notice. In the event that the concerned party fails to file a complaint within the given time limit and refuses to comply with the decision, the health and quarantine office may apply to the people's court for mandatory enforcement.

Article 22 Where a quarantinable infectious disease is caused to spread or is in severe danger of being spread as a direct result of a violation of the provisions of this law, criminal responsibility shall be investigated in accordance with the relevant provisions of the Criminal Law.


Article 23 Personnel working in frontier health and quarantine offices shall carry out enforcement impartially, perform duties faithfully, and conduct timely quarantine inspections on vehicles and persons upon entry or exit. Any violation of the law or dereliction of their duties shall be punished by disciplinary sanctions. Serious circumstances that constitute a crime shall be investigated for criminal liabilities in accordance with the law.

Chapter VI Supplementary Provisions

Article 24 In the event that the provisions of this Law differ from those of international treaties on health and quarantine that China has concluded or joined, the provisions of such international treaties shall prevail, with the exception of the treaty clauses in which the People's Republic of China has declared reservations.

Article 25 In regards to temporary contact between border defense units of the People's Republic of China and those of a neighboring country, and the temporary visit at a designated place on the border by residents of the border areas of the two countries, the quarantine inspection upon entry or exit of the vehicles and persons from both sides shall be conducted in adherence with all agreements between China and the other country or, in the absence of such an agreement, in compliance with the relevant regulations of the Chinese government.

Article 26 Frontier health and quarantine offices shall charge in accordance with the state regulations when exercising health and quarantine inspection.

Article 27 The health administration department under control of the State Council shall formulate implementing rules in accordance with this Law which shall come into effect after being submitted to and approved by the State Council.

Article 28 This Law shall come into effect as of May 1, 1987. The Frontier health and Quarantine Regulations of the People's Republic of China promulgated on December 23, 1957 shall be invalidated simultaneously.