Recently, the General Office of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and the General Office of the General Administration of Market Supervision jointly issued the Notice on Promoting Automobile Enterprises to Standardize and Optimize the Management of Account Payments to Suppliers. The Notice will promote automobile companies to pay suppliers' accounts in a timely manner, safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of suppliers, and create a good industrial ecology, in accordance with relevant laws and regulations.● Standard payment guidelines: (1) The accounting period is clear from the beginning. The supplier's account period is calculated from the date when the supplier delivers the goods, works, services and accepts the acceptance. For suppliers with continuous supply (more than 2 times a month), the two parties can negotiate and determine a continuous supply cycle (in principle, it should not be more than 1 month). After the end of each supply cycle, the goods delivered in the cycle will be centrally reconciled. The time from the midpoint of the supply cycle to the completion of the payment should not exceed the upper limit of the accounting period. (2) The acceptance work is standardized and efficient. Automobile companies and suppliers shall stipulate clear and reasonable acceptance methods and deadlines in the contract, and strictly abide by them. After receiving the goods, projects, and services, the automobile enterprise shall complete the acceptance within a reasonable period of time. Among them, the production materials such as auto parts should be received within the agreed delivery time (based on the logistics time) within 1 working day according to the agreed quantity, and the acceptance should be completed within 3 working days after receiving the goods. If the acceptance is not completed within 3 working days, the acceptance shall be deemed to be qualified; if the parts need to pass the loading verification, the offline inspection of the vehicle should be completed within 5 working days after receiving the goods. If the acceptance is unqualified, both parties shall determine the responsibility and pay compensation according to the contract, and the corresponding material payment shall not be included in the accounts payable. (3) Pay the account in full on time. The automobile enterprise and the supplier agree on the payment period in the contract and comply with it; if the automobile enterprise makes a commitment to the supplier's account period, the payment period agreed in the contract shall not exceed the commitment period. The time of payment is subject to the time of issuance of bills such as cash remittances or bank acceptance bills by automobile companies. If the automobile enterprise fails to pay the account within the agreed account period, the overdue interest shall be paid in accordance with the law. The overdue interest is calculated with reference to the bank's interest rate for the same period. If the supplier is an SME, the overdue interest shall be implemented in accordance with Article 17 of the Regulations on the Protection of SME Payment. (4) Convenient payment method compliance. The payment method shall comply with relevant national laws and regulations and regulatory requirements, and shall be determined by both parties through consultation. Encourage the preferred use of cash (bank transfers, wire transfers, etc.) or bank acceptance bills for payment, and do not force or disguise the supplier to accept non-cash payment methods such as commercial acceptance bills, supply chain bills, etc. If non-cash payment methods such as acceptance bills and supply chain bills are used, the proportion of use shall be reasonably controlled, and the method of bearing the discount cost shall be clearly agreed upon in the contract. (5) Payment shall be made in advance during the negotiation period. Payment arrangements for the negotiation period shall be agreed upon in the contract. If it is a continuous cooperation, a certain proportion (generally not less than 90%) can be paid in advance by referring to the price of the latest effective contract between the two parties; if it is a non-continuous cooperation, it can be paid in advance by referring to more than 70% (including) of the industry average price or the development order unit price, and it will be paid more or less according to the final price. (6) Priority guarantee for small and medium-sized enterprises. Automobile enterprises are encouraged to complete the payment of the supplier's payment for the goods within 30 days from the date of acceptance of the goods, and to complete the payment within 60 days at the longest, and all payments are encouraged to be made in cash. If the payment method is not specified in the contract, cash shall be used to pay the accounts of SMEs, and payment shall not be substituted by commercial bills of exchange or electronic certificates of accounts receivable. Large automobile enterprises and their wholly-owned or controlled subsidiaries, especially leading enterprises, are encouraged to make cash payments to SMEs within 60 days from the date of delivery of goods, works, and services. Automobile companies should establish and improve risk control and compliance management systems, and urge subordinate companies and assembly suppliers to pay small and medium-sized enterprises in a timely manner. For the status of SMEs, you can inquire through the "SME Scale Type Self-test Applet" in the "Public Service Platform" module of the official website of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology. If there is a dispute over the size and type of small and medium-sized enterprise, it may apply to the comprehensive management department of the local people's government at or above the county level that advocates the location of the small and medium-sized enterprise for the promotion of small and medium-sized enterprises. (7) Exceptions. If the automobile enterprise is unable to pay the bill on time due to financial difficulties, it shall notify the supplier in advance and postpone the payment as agreed in the contract (except for the supplier is an SME). If the supplier fails to provide an invoice in accordance with the contract within the agreed time, the automobile company may postpone payment according to the invoice delay time. (8) Other. Advocate the establishment of long-term and stable cooperative relations between automobile enterprises and suppliers. Each contract shall be valid for not less than one year. The content of the contract shall be fair and reasonable, avoid setting unfair clauses, ensure the balance of the rights and interests of all parties, and do not ignore the cost bottom line, hidden quality safety risks and other factors to reduce prices. Do not reduce the supply price on the grounds of shortening the accounting period. Automobile companies are encouraged to implement systems such as stylized contracts and automatic payment of accounts upon maturity, so as to reduce human interference and improve work efficiency.● Implementation measures: (1) Strengthen collaboration between all parties. The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology has established a supervision and inspection mechanism with relevant departments to promote the optimization of the accounting period. Encourage automotive companies to actively disclose information such as the start of the accounting period and payment status. For automobile enterprises with large accounts payable, intentionally prolonging the account period, or being complained by small and medium-sized enterprises, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the General Administration of Market Supervision and other relevant departments will conduct joint interviews and urge rectification, and severe penalties will be imposed for violations of laws and regulations. Relevant local departments shall cooperate in supervising and urging rectification and other work. (2) Carry out research and evaluation. Automobile companies should establish and improve the supplier account payment management system, strengthen implementation tracking, supervise and optimize account period management, and complete semi-annual and annual situation reports at the end of July and before the end of January every year, and report to the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology. The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology commissioned a third-party organization to investigate and evaluate the payment of enterprise accounts, and publicly released the evaluation results. Third-party organizations organize industry experts to conduct in-depth research on automotive companies and upstream suppliers based on the payment status report of automotive suppliers. Accurately grasp the company's accounting period, payment method and proportion, accounts payable scale, etc. through access to documents, data, on-site inspection, employee interviews, etc. The specific implementation rules of the survey and evaluation shall be separately formulated by the third-party organization and announced to the public. The survey and evaluation work is carried out once a year, covering all key automobile enterprises (the specific list is released together with the implementation rules of the survey and evaluation). Third-party institutions shall conduct research and evaluation objectively, impartially, and in a standardized manner, and shall not use it to seek improper interests and actively accept supervision. (3) Complaint verification and handling. If there is any objection to the evaluation results published by the third-party organization, the third-party organization shall conduct a review. If there is any objection to the research and evaluation work of third-party institutions, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology shall organize the verification, and the verification shall be disclosed to the public in a timely manner. If the verification finds that there is fraud, illegal profit, etc., the third-party institutions and the responsible persons shall be seriously dealt with in accordance with the law.● Compared with the China Automobile Industry Association's Payment Standardization Initiative, the Notice puts forward some new requirements. What are the main considerations? "Notice" adheres to the problem orientation, focuses on the main problems in the implementation of the "Payment Standardization Initiative", and puts forward specific requirements such as a clear start of the accounting period, efficient acceptance work specifications, full payment on time, compliance with payment methods, advance payment during negotiation, and priority protection for SMEs. It can be briefly summarized into five aspects. First, further standardize the starting time of the accounting period. The clear accounting period shall be calculated from the date when the supplier delivers the goods, projects, and services and accepts the acceptance. Considering the actual continuous supply, in order to avoid increasing the burden on suppliers and automobile companies, for suppliers who supply 2 or more times a month, it is required that the time from the midpoint of the continuous supply cycle to the completion of the payment should not exceed the upper limit of the accounting period. The second is to further standardize the acceptance behavior. Automobile enterprises are required to complete acceptance within a reasonable period of time after receiving goods, projects, and services. Among them, production materials such as general parts and components should be completed within 3 working days, and parts that do require loading verification should be completed within 5 working days. Third, further standardize the payment deadline requirements. It is required to stipulate the payment period in the contract, and the stipulated period should not exceed the period of public commitment. If the agreed payment period is exceeded, interest shall be required to be paid in accordance with the law. The time of payment is generally based on the time of spot exchange, and the determination of "payment" is unified. Fourth, further standardize payment methods. Encourage the use of cash payment, and do not force or disguise the supplier to accept non-cash payment methods such as bank acceptance bills, commercial acceptance bills, and supply chain bills. Control the proportion to be used and agree on the bearing method of discount costs. Fifth, further standardize the payment requirements during the bargaining period. In order to avoid affecting the execution of the contract because the price has not been negotiated, the payment requirements during the negotiation period are clearly proposed. Continuous supply can be paid at not less than 90% of the latest contract price, and discontinuous supply can be paid at not less than 70% of the reference industry average price or development point unit price, and more or● less at the final price. What are the specific requirements of the Notice? The Notice has strengthened the payment requirements for SMEs. First, in terms of the payment period, automobile companies are encouraged to complete the payment of payment to small and medium-sized enterprise suppliers within 30 days, up to 60 days. Second, in terms of payment for goods, all small and medium-sized enterprises are encouraged to use cash payment. If the payment method is not specified in the contract, cash payment shall not be used, and payment shall not be made by commercial bills of exchange or electronic certificates of accounts receivable. Third, in terms of coverage, large automobile enterprises and their wholly-owned or holding subsidiaries are encouraged to include goods, works, and services in the scope of support, and pay in cash within 60 days from the date of delivery. (Compiled by Qin Chao, Automobile House).