GB/T 20000.3-2025Rules for standardization - Part 3: Guidelines for referencing standards in regulations (English PDF)

Foreword

This document complies with the provisions of GB/T 1.1-2020 "Standardization Work Guidelines Part

1.Structure and Drafting Rules of Standardization Documents". Drafting. GB/T 20000 "Rules for Standardization Activities" and GB/T 1 "Guidelines for Standardization Work", GB/T 20001 "Rules for Drafting Standards", GB/T 20002 "Guidelines for the Drafting of Specific Content in Standards", GB/T 20003 "Special Procedures for Standard Development", and GB/T 20004 "Group Standards" Together with standardization, they constitute the basic national standard system supporting standardization work. This document is Part 3 of GB/T 20000 "Rules for Standardization Activities" (1). GB/T 20000 has already published the following parts.

1.General Terminology for Standardization and Related Activities;

3.Guidelines for Standards Referenced in Regulations;

6.Guide to Good Practices;

8.Principles and Guidelines for Using the Stage Code System;

10.General Rules for the Translation of English Versions of National Standards;

11.General Expressions in English Translations of National Standards 1) The document title of GB/T 20000 has been changed from "Guidelines for Standardization Work" to "Rules for Standardization Activities". Parts 1, 8, and 10 listed therein... The main element of the document title in Part 1 and Part 11 is currently "Guidelines for Standardization Work," but will be changed to "Rules for Standardization Activities" after revision. In addition, some parts have been moved to other standards during the revision process, so the part numbers are not consecutive. This document replaces GB/T 20000.3-2014 "Standardization Work Guidelines Part

3.Referenced Documents", and is consistent with GB/T 20000.3- Compared to.2014, aside from structural adjustments and editorial changes, the main technical changes are as follows:

---The scope of the document has been changed to only provide rules for legal references to standards, and the relevant rules for referencing documents in the standards have been deleted (see section 1). Chapter 1 (2014 edition, Chapter 1)

---Added the term and definition of "informative citation" (see Chapter 3);

---The section on "References in the Standard" has been removed (see Chapter 5 of the.2014 edition); The section on "General Considerations and Principles for Legal Citations" has been expanded to include general considerations and categories of standards used in legal citations. Selection principles (see Chapter 4);

---Guidelines and recommendations regarding "direct citation" practices and wording have been revised (see

6.2.1 in the.2014 edition);

1 Scope

GB/T 20000.3-2025 is the Chinese national standard covering how a regulation may cite a standard - the dated and undated forms and what each commits the regulator to, the exclusive and indicative reference, the consequence for the standard's revision cycle, and the drafting rules that follow. It replaces GB/T 20000.3-2014, in force from 1 May 2026. Issued on 5 October 2025, it has been in force since 1 May 2026, replacing GB/T 20000.3-2014.

This document establishes the overall considerations and principles for legal citation standards, and provides guidance on the methods and wording of legal citation standards. suggestion. This document applies to the handling of standards referenced when formulating regulations.

Note. The term "regulations" in this document includes laws, administrative regulations, local regulations, departmental rules, local government rules, and administrative normative documents.

2 Normative references

The contents of the following documents, through normative references within the text, constitute essential provisions of this document. Dated citations are not included. For references to documents, only the version corresponding to that date applies to this document; for undated references, the latest version (including all amendments) applies. This document. GB/T

3 Terms and Definitions

The terms and definitions defined in GB/T

1.1 and GB/T 20000.1, as well as the following terms and definitions, apply to this document.

3.1 Exclusive reference The effect of a reference is to indicate that compliance with the cited standard is the only way to meet the relevant regulatory requirements. [Source: GB/T 20000.1-2014, 13.3.1, with modifications]

3.2 indicative reference The effect of citation is to indicate that compliance with the cited standard is one of the ways to meet the relevant regulatory requirements. [Source: GB/T 20000.1-2014, 13.3.2, with modifications]

3.3 Informative reference The reference indicates that the cited standard is not used as a means of determining whether the relevant regulatory requirements are met.

3.4 Direct reference The method of referencing standards by directly mentioning the standard number and standard name in regulations.

Note. There are two forms of direct citation. citation with date and citation without date.

3.5 Indirect reference The regulations do not directly specify the standard number and name, but instead indicate the referenced standards for which a list of corresponding standards is provided in other media. Way.

5 References