Draft law expands barrier-free label requirement to more products

More products will be required to provide voiceovers, large characters, braille or other barrier-free versions of labels or instructions for consumers, said an official from the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, China's top legislature.

"The requirement is to meet the demand of the elderly and the disabled, offering them more convenience in reading, and it has been written into the new version of a draft law on the construction of barrier-free environment," Zang Tiewei, spokesman of the NPC's Legislative Affairs Commission, told a news conference on Sunday.

He revealed that the new version of the draft will be submitted to an upcoming session of the NPC Standing Committee, which is scheduled to be held from Monday to Wednesday in Beijing, for a third review. In general, a draft will become a law in China after being read three times by the NPC Standing Committee.

According to Zang, the requirement of using barrier-free versions was just applied to instructions on food and drug labels when the NPC Standing Committee had a second review of the draft.

Since then, the commission received 3,285 suggestions from folks of many walks of life, of which, some people - especially the elderly and the visually disabled - complained that the small font and the lack of braille versions made product instructions difficult for them to read.

To help solve the problem, the requirement has been expanded to more products in the new version, clarifying that the barrier-free versions also need to be applied in labels of goods, Zang said.

He added that the new version of the draft also encourages the compilation or publication of textbooks in braille or low-vision versions to meet the reading needs of those who are blind and other visually impaired students.

In addition to the legislative item, NPC Standing Committee will also review a draft law on external relations during the upcoming session, with deliberation of draft revisions to the laws on administrative review and protection of maritime environment, according to Zang.

Furthermore, a few reports from the State Council, including one on auditing the execution of the central government's 2022 budget and one on coordinated regional development, are also scheduled to be submitted to the session for review.