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Frontier Health and Quarantine Law of the People's Republic of China
(Adopted at the 18th Meeting of the Standing Committee of the Sixth National  People's Congress, promulgated by Order No. 46 of the President of the  People's Republic of China on December 2, 1986, and effective as of May 1, 1987) CONTENTS CHAPTER I GENERAL PROVISIONS CHAPTER II QUARANTINE INSPECTION CHAPTER III MONITORING OF INFECTIOUS DISEASES CHAPTER IV HEALTH SUPERVISION CHAPTER V HEALTH LEGAL LIABILITY CHAPTER VI SUPPLEMENTARY PROVISIONS CHAPTER I GENERAL PROVISIONS Article  1.  This  Law  is formulated in order to prevent infectious diseases  from  spreading  into or out of the country, to carry out frontier health and quarantine inspection and to protect human health. Article 2. Frontier health and quarantine offices shall be set up at international  seaports,  airports and ports of entry at land frontiers  and  boundary  rivers  (hereinafter  referred  to  as "frontier  ports")  of the People's Republic of China. These offices shall  carry out the quarantining and  monitoring  of infectious diseases, and health inspection in accordance with the provisions of this Law.   Health administration departments under 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  infections diseases shall include plague, cholera, yellow fever  and other infectious diseases determined and announced by the State Council.   Infectious  diseases  to  be  monitored shall be determined and announced by health administration departments under the State Council. Article  4. Persons, conveyances and transport equipment, as well as articles such as baggage, goods and postal parcels that may  transmit  quarantinable  infectious  diseases, shall undergo quarantine inspection upon entering or exiting the country. No entry or exit shall be allowed without the  permission of a frontier health   and   quarantine   office.   Specific  measures  for implementation of this Law shall be stipulated in detailed regulations. Article  5.  On  discovering  a  quarantinable  infectious disease or a disease  suspected  to be quarantinable, a frontier health and quarantine office shall, in addition to taking necessary measures,  immediately  notify  the  local  health administration department; at the same time, it shall make a report to the health administration  department  under the State Council by the  most expeditious  means  possible, within 24 hours at the latest. Post and telecommunications  departments shall give priority to transmissions of reports of epidemic diseases.   Messages  exchanged  between the People's Republic of China and foreign countries  on the epidemic situation of infectious diseases shall be handled by  the health administration department under the State Council in conjunction with other departments concerned. Article 6. When a quarantinable infectious disease is prevalent abroad or  within  China,  the  State Council may order relevant sections of the border to be blockaded or adopt other emergency measures. CHAPTER II QUARANTINE INSPECTION Article  7.  Persons and conveyances on entering the country shall be subject to quarantine inspection at designated places at the first frontier port of their arrival. Except for harbour pilots, no person shall be allowed to embark on or disembark from any means of transport and no articles  such  as baggage, goods or postal  parcels  shall be loaded or unloaded without the health and quarantine  inspector's  permission.  Specific  measures  for the implementation of this Law shall be stipulated in detailed regulations. Article  8. Persons and conveyances exiting the country shall be subject to quarantine inspection at the last frontier port of departure. Article  9. When foreign ships or airborne vehicles anchor or land at places other than frontier ports in China, the persons in charge of the ships or airborne vehicles must report immediately to the nearest frontier health  and  quarantine  office or to the local  health  administration department.  Except  in  cases  of emergency, no person shall be allowed to embark on or disembark from the ship or airborne vehicle, and no articles such as baggage, goods and  postal  parcels  shall be loaded or unloaded without  the permission  of  a frontier health and quarantine office or the local health administration department. Article  10.  When a quarantinable infectious disease, a disease  suspected  to  be quarantinable or a death due to an unidentified cause other than accidental harm is discovered at a frontier  port, the relevant department at the frontier port and the person in charge of the conveyance must report immediately to the frontier  health and quarantine office and apply for provisional quarantine inspection. Article  11.  According  to the results of an inspection made  by quarantine  doctors,  the  frontier health and quarantine office shall sign and issue a quarantine certificate for entry or exit to  a  conveyance  either  uncontaminated  by  any  quarantinable infectious disease or already given decontamination treatment. Article  12. A person having a quarantinable infectious disease shall  be  placed  in  isolation  by  the  frontier  health and quarantine office for a period  determined by the results of the medical  examination,  while  a  person suspected  of  having  a quarantinable infectious disease shall be kept for inspection for a period determined by the incubation period of such disease.   The  corpse  of anyone who died from a quarantinable infectious disease must be cremated at a nearby place. Article 13. Any conveyance subject to entry quarantine inspection shall be  disinfected,  deratted,  treated with insecticides or given  other sanitation measures when found to be in any of the following conditions:  (1)  having  come  from  an area where a quarantinable infectious disease is epidemic;  (2) being contaminated by a quarantinable infectious disease; or  (3)  revealing  the presence of rodents which affect human health or insects which are carriers of disease.   Apart  from  exceptional cases, when the person in charge of the foreign conveyance  refuses to allow sanitation measures to be taken, the conveyance shall  be  allowed  to  leave the frontier of the People's Republic of China without delay under the supervision of the frontier health and quarantine office. Article  14. A frontier health and quarantine office shall conduct sanitation  inspections  and  disinfect, derat, treat with insecticides or apply other sanitation measures to articles such as baggage, goods and postal  parcels that come from an epidemic area and are contaminated by a quarantinable infectious disease or may act as a vehicle of a quarantinable infectious disease.   A  consignor or an agent for the transportation of a corpse or human remains into  or out of the country must declare the matter to a frontier health and quarantine office; transport thereof, in either direction across the border, shall  not be allowed until sanitary inspection proves satisfactory and an entry or exit permit is given. CHAPTER III MONITORING OF INFECTIOUS DISEASES Article  15.  Frontier health and quarantine offices shall monitor persons  on  entry  or  exit for quarantinable infectious diseases and shall take necessary preventive and control measures. Article  16.  Frontier health and quarantine offices shall be authorized to  require persons on entry or exit to complete a health declaration  form and produce certificates of vaccination against certain infectious diseases, a health certificate or other relevant documents. Article 17. For persons who suffer from infectious diseases to be monitored, who come from areas in foreign countries where infectious diseases  to  be  monitored are epidemic or who have close contact with patients suffering from infectious diseases to be monitored,  the frontier health  and  quarantine  offices  shall, according to each case, issue them medical  convenience  cards, keep them  for  inspection  or  take  other preventive  or  control measures, while promptly notifying the local health administration department  about such cases. Medical services at all places shall give  priority  in  consultation and treatment to persons possessing medical convenience cards. CHAPTER IV HEALTH SUPERVISION Article  18.  Frontier health and quarantine office shall, in accordance with  state  health standards, exercise health supervision over the sanitary conditions  at  frontier ports and the sanitary conditions of conveyances on entry or exit at frontier ports. They shall: (1)   supervise  and  direct  concerned  personnel  on  the prevention and elimination of rodents and insects that carry diseases; (2) inspect and test food and drinking water and facilities for their storage, supply and delivery; (3)  supervise  the  health 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 matter, sewage, excrement and ballast water. Article  19.  Frontier health and quarantine offices shall have frontier port  health  supervisors, who shall carry out the tasks assigned by the frontier health and quarantine offices.   In  performing  their  duties, frontier port health supervisors shall be authorized  to  conduct  health  supervision  and  give technical  guidance regarding  frontier  ports  and conveyances on entry or exit; to give advice for  improvement wherever sanitary conditions are unsatisfactory and factors exist  that may spread infectious diseases; and to coordinate departments concerned to take necessary measures and apply sanitary treatment. CHAPTER V LEGAL LIABILITY Article 20. A frontier health and quarantine office may warn or fine, according  to  the circumstances, any unit or individual that has violated the provisions of this Law by committing any of the following acts:  (1)  evading  quarantine  inspection  or withholding the truth in reports to the frontier health and quarantine office;  (2)  embarking on or disembarking from conveyances upon 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 listen to the office's advice against such acts.   All fines thus collected shall be turned over to the state treasury. Article 21. If a concerned party refuses to obey a decision on a fine made  by  a frontier health and quarantine office, he may, within 15 days after receiving notice of the fine, file a lawsuit in a local people's court. The frontier health and quarantine office may apply to the people's court for mandatory enforcement of a decision  if the concerned party neither files a lawsuit nor obeys the decision within the 15-day term. Article 22. If a quarantinable infectious disease is caused to spread or  is  in  great  danger  of being spread as a result of a violation of the provisions  of this Law, criminal responsibility shall be investigated in accordance with Article 178 of the Criminal Law of the People's Republic of China. Article  23. The personnel of frontier health and quarantine offices must enforce this Law impartially, perform duties faithfully and promptly conduct  quarantine  inspection  on  conveyances and persons upon entry or exit.  Those  who  violate  the law or are derelict in their duties shall be given  disciplinary sanctions; where  circumstances  are serious enough to constitute  a crime, criminal  responsibility  shall  be investigated in accordance with the law. CHAPTER VI SUPPLEMENTARY PROVISIONS Article  24.  Where 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 on which the People's Republic of China has declared reservations. Article  25. In cases of temporary contact between frontier defence units of the People's Republic of China and those of a neighbouring country, of  a temporary visit at a designated place on the frontier by residents of the border areas of the two countries and of entry or exit of conveyances and persons of the two sides, quarantine inspection shall be conducted in line with the agreements between  China and the other country or, in the absence of such an agreement, in accordance with the relevant regulations of the Chinese Government. Article  26.  Frontier  health  and quarantine offices shall charge  for  health  and  quarantine services according to state regulations. Article 27. The health administration department under the State Council  shall,  in  accordance  with  this Law, formulate rules  for its implementation,  which shall go into effect after being submitted to and approved by the State Council. Article  28.  This Law shall go into effect on May 1, 1987. On the same day, the Frontier Health and Quarantine Regulations of the  People's Republic of China promulgated on December 23, 1957, shall be invalidated.