The State Council Legislative Affairs Office and the State Council Inter-Ministerial Joint Conference Office for Reducing the Burden of Enterprises:

Your request for instructions on the ownership of law enforcement of the right to punish deforestation in urban planning areas (No.8 [2003] of the State Council) has been received. After study, the reply is as follows:

1. Who will examine and approve the felling of trees in the urban planning area? The third paragraph of Article 32 of the Forest Law stipulates that "the cutting license shall be examined and issued by the relevant competent department in accordance with the regulations"; Article 7 of the Regulations on Urban Greening clarifies the division of functions and powers of the relevant competent departments in the State Council and the local greening management system, and stipulates with special funds that "the greening work managed by the forestry administrative departments within the urban planning area shall be implemented in accordance with relevant laws and regulations". Our bureau believes that the local laws and regulations formulated by various localities according to the provisions of the Forest Law, the Urban Greening Ordinance and other laws and regulations, as well as the specific provisions on who approves the felling of trees in urban planning areas, are applicable locally. The relevant provisions of the above-mentioned laws, regulations and local regulations conform to the legislative principle of legal unity, and the relevant provisions should be applied according to the specific actual situation in the implementation process.

Two, about who will be punished for illegal felling of trees in urban planning areas. According to Article 15 of the Administrative Punishment Law, "Administrative punishment shall be implemented by the administrative organ with the power of administrative punishment within the scope of statutory functions and powers", our bureau believes that illegal felling of trees in urban planning areas shall be punished by the relevant competent departments respectively, that is, those who violate the relevant provisions of the Forest Law shall be punished by the competent forestry departments; Violation of the relevant provisions of the "Regulations on Urban Greening" shall be punished by the competent department of urban greening; In violation of the relevant provisions of other local laws and regulations, the corresponding competent departments determined by local laws and regulations shall be punished.

This reply.