Tightened supervision vowed on birth control fines

China's health and family planning watchdog has vowed to clamp down on birth control fines following concerns over possible misconduct in the management of such funds. Family planning fines, or "social compensation fees" to use their official title, are paid to local family planning departments by parents that violate China's one-child policy. Fines can amount to tens of thousands of yuan for each extra child. Mao Qun'an, spokesman of the National Health and Family Planning Commission, said Wednesday that a fine is a means to ensure the implementation of the one-child policy. Mao said the commission will urge related local family planning departments to rectify misconduct in the collection and management of such fines. Mao's remarks came after at a statement released earlier Wednesday by the National Audit Office on fines collected in 45 counties and cities in nine provincial-level regions from the beginning of 2009 to May 2012. The office revealed various problems in the handling of fines, including inaccurate reports relating to the number of extra children parents had, fees not successfully collected and local officials handing out higher fines than what they should have. Mao said the commission will take effective measures to address problems uncovered from the auditing process and improve the system on the collection and management of fines. According to Mao, the commission will tighten supervision and guide local family planning departments to publish information for public scrutiny.