National Standard for Translation Services (Overview)
Specification for Translation Service—Part 1: Translation: National Standard of the People's Republic of China, GB/T 19363.1—2003. Issued by the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine of the People's Republic of China on November 27, 2003, and implemented on June 1, 2004.
Specification for Translation Service—Part 1: Translation is the first national standard ever established for the translation industry in China and is a recommended national standard for the service sector. Based on the specific characteristics of translation services and guided by the 2000 edition of the GB/T 19000/ISO 9000 quality standards, this standard aims to regulate industry practices, improve the quality of translation services, and better serve customers. It stipulates the process and requirements for translation services and applies to written translation services. For the first time in the form of a national standard, it clearly defines the term and connotation of “translation services” as “paid business activities that provide conversion services between two or more languages for customers.” It also, for the first time in the form of a national standard, sets clear normative requirements for translation service providers in such areas as business contact, service identification, service procedures, quality assurance period, document retention, customer feedback, and quality tracking.
Specification for Translation Service—Part 1: Translation also addresses the relatively inconsistent word-counting methods in the translation market by specifying two methods: layout-based word count and computer-based word count. At the same time, it sets out in detail the corresponding responsibilities that translation service providers should assume in ensuring translation quality, as well as the legal obligations they should fulfill in maintaining customer confidentiality.
(The revised version of this standard was issued on July 16, 2008, and implemented on December 1, 2008. The standard number is GB/T 19363.1—2008, replacing GB/T 19363.1—2003. Compared with the original standard, the main changes in the revised version are as follows: the introduction was deleted; four original terms—process, traceability, correction, and corrective action—were deleted, and the term “electronic document” was added; Clauses 4.4.2.4 to 4.4.2.8 concerning translation quality were deleted; the requirements for printed materials and photocopies in 4.4.7 were deleted; and other parts of the standard were slightly revised.)
Target Text Quality Requirements for Translation Services: National Standard of the People's Republic of China, GB/T 19682—2005. Issued by the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine of the People's Republic of China on March 24, 2005, and implemented on September 1, 2005.
Factors affecting target text quality mainly include the translator’s command of language, professional knowledge structure, work experience and background, as well as the time allowed for translation. Target Text Quality Requirements for Translation Services sets out provisions on the basic requirements for target text quality, permissible adaptations in translation, and target text quality assessment.
First, it standardizes the basic requirements for target text quality: the translation is required to be faithful to the source text, consistent in terminology, and smooth in expression, emphasizing that faithfulness, expressiveness, and elegance are the basic criteria for measuring target text quality.
Second, it stipulates special requirements for target text quality: it provides handling specifications for the most common issues arising in translation, including numerical expressions, proper names, units of measurement, symbols, abbreviations, and target text layout.
It also sets out other requirements for target text quality by proposing flexible handling methods for a number of issues in translated texts that require special treatment and expression.
In addition, it proposes that the purpose of the translated text should serve as the basic basis for target text quality assessment, and establishes normative standards for target text quality requirements and target text quality inspection methods.
This standard is published by the Standards Press of China.
Specification for Translation Service—Part 2: Interpretation: National Standard of the People's Republic of China, GB/T 19363.2—2006. Issued by the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine of the People's Republic of China on September 4, 2006, and implemented on December 1, 2006.
Specification for Translation Service—Part 2: Interpretation establishes the process and requirements for interpretation services provided by translation service providers and applies to interpretation services. The standard clearly defines the types of interpretation, stipulates the equipment requirements specific to interpretation, and sets out the qualifications of interpretation service providers and interpreters, as well as controls over the interpretation service process and charging methods.
According to the standard, if any of the following occurs in the course of providing interpretation services, the service shall be deemed non-compliant: incorrect use and rendering of terminology; an omission rate of information exceeding the prescribed standard; arbitrary charging or the absence of a clear commercial service agreement, etc. Interpretation service enterprises whose services do not comply with the standard shall bear the corresponding legal liabilities, and the professional title evaluation and professional qualification certification of individual interpreters will also be affected.
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