On May 7, the government of the Chinese province of Shanxi announced the promulgation of new regulations, under which only enterprises with the relevant business permits will be allowed to carry out production and associated operations in the coking coal industry in the province. The new regulation will take effect as of June 1, 2010.
According to the new regulation, each municipality in the province will be in charge of the preliminary examination and declaration of application for coking coal business permits. With regard to approval of application and issuance of the permit, the Shanxi provincial ministry of economy and information will be responsible.
To obtain coking coal business permits, four conditions will have to be met: national and provincial coking industry policies have to be obeyed; a written submission provided by local railway authorities is needed for an enterprise depending on railway transportation for its business; the enterprise in question should be qualified as a legal entity; and the enterprise should have an operations site and all necessary equipment, including equipment for quality testing.
The validity period of the coking coal business permit is three years. Enterprises are permitted to extend the validity period within thirty days before the expiration date.