With the improvement of living standards, people are paying increasing attention to dietary health, and the market is flooded with a wide variety ofOrganic FoodstuffOrganic food is a natural, pollution-free healthy food, and therefore commands high quality and a high price. However, many expensive organic foods on the market are merely ordinary goods cloaked in an “organic” label, and it is difficult for ordinary consumers to determine the authenticity of organic food. Xinhua Daily Telegraph once published an article reporting the false appearances of some organic foods, exposing the counterfeit production chain, and television media such as CCTV News Channel and Finance Channel also carried related reports. The issue of organic food has gradually become a hot topic of social concern. As the competent department for certification and accreditation, the quality and technical supervision departments, through various special law enforcement inspections and the handling of illegal cases, safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of consumers and guideorganic certificationThe healthy development of the product market is their duty. This paper attempts to analyze the characteristics of a typical case of illegal sales of organic certified products, and draw inspirations from case handling.文章源自FOFCC-http://fofcc.org.cn/en/11439/
[Case Facts]文章源自FOFCC-http://fofcc.org.cn/en/11439/
In August 2012, law enforcement officers of the Quality and Technical Supervision Bureau of District A, Province S, conducted a law enforcement inspection of Company A Food Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as Company A) in its jurisdiction and found that a certain udon noodle product it was selling bore the word “ORGANIC” on its packaging, with the manufacturer being Company B Food Co., Ltd. of Province T (hereinafter referred to as Company B). The law enforcement officers requested that Company A provide the relevantorganic productscertification certificates, but the company failed to provide them. The law enforcement officers conducted sampling and evidence collection of the aforementioned products and immediately launched an investigation. During the investigation, Company A submitted to the Quality and Technical Supervision Bureau of District A photocopies of two relevant product certification certificates. One was a domestic organic product certification certificate, and the other was a foreign-language version of a foreign organic product certification certificate. It was later confirmed that neither of the two certificates was applicable to the products involved. Therefore, the Quality and Technical Supervision Bureau of District A ultimately imposed corresponding administrative penalties on Company A in accordance with the law.文章源自FOFCC-http://fofcc.org.cn/en/11439/
[Focus]文章源自FOFCC-http://fofcc.org.cn/en/11439/
1. Was the domestic organic certification certificate applicable?文章源自FOFCC-http://fofcc.org.cn/en/11439/
During the case investigation, Company A provided an organic product certification certificate issued by a domestic certification body D. According to the product description in the certificate, the “organic wheat noodles,” “organic multigrain noodles,” and “organic vegetable noodles” produced by Company B had passed the relevant organic product certification and complied with the relevant organic product standards. Company A claimed that the ingredients of the udon noodle product were “organic wheat flour, natural sea salt, water,” with the main ingredient being wheat flour, and therefore the udon noodle product it was selling was a type of organic wheat noodle. Accordingly, the District A Bureau sent a letter requesting assistance in investigation to certification body D, which had issued the organic product certification certificate, requesting confirmation of whether “udon noodles” were consistent with the “organic wheat noodles” among the three product descriptions listed in the certificate. Subsequently, the organic certification body replied in writing, clarifying that the products it certified were “organic wheat noodles,” “organic multigrain noodles,” and “organic vegetable noodles,” and did not include “udon noodles.” “Udon noodles” were not national-standard organic products certified by that body.文章源自FOFCC-http://fofcc.org.cn/en/11439/
Therefore, the District A Bureau held that the domestic organic certification certificate provided by the party was not applicable to this case. The reasons were: although Company A provided a valid organic product certification certificate, and the certificate was applied for and held by Company B, the name of the certified product on the certificate did not match the name of the product involved. When conducting organic product certification, certification bodies take products as the certification object, because different products made from the same raw materials may also involve different conditions and methods during processing. Udon noodles and wheat noodles are in fact two different products produced by Company B. Therefore, this organic certification certificate was not applicable to the udon noodle product involved.文章源自FOFCC-http://fofcc.org.cn/en/11439/
2. Was the foreign organic certification certificate applicable?文章源自FOFCC-http://fofcc.org.cn/en/11439/
As the investigation deepened further, Company A provided another certification certificate issued by a foreign certification body. Company A claimed that the products produced by Company B had also undergone foreign organic product certification, and the packaging of the udon noodle product also bore the certification mark of the foreign certification body. In response to the above situation, law enforcement officers investigated the validity and applicability of the foreign organic product certification certificate:文章源自FOFCC-http://fofcc.org.cn/en/11439/
(1) Because what the party provided was an overseas certificate and a photocopy, the Quality and Technical Supervision Bureau of District A sent a letter requesting assistance in investigation to the Quality and Technical Supervision Bureau of District B, where the product manufacturer Company B was located, to confirm the validity of the overseas certification certificate for the product involved. Upon verification by the Quality and Technical Supervision Bureau of District B, the overseas certification certificate held by Company B was issued by E Organic Certification Co., Ltd.文章源自FOFCC-http://fofcc.org.cn/en/11439/
(2) In its reply, the Quality and Technical Supervision Bureau of District B also stated that the certification approval document of E Organic Certification Company showed that the company's business scope was subcontracting organic product certification business from foreign organic certification companies, but only for export products.文章源自FOFCC-http://fofcc.org.cn/en/11439/
(3) The Quality and Technical Supervision Bureau of City S also issued an official reply to the relevant request for instructions from the Quality and Technical Supervision Bureau of District A, namely that Company A's sales conduct had violated the relevant provisions of the Measures for the Administration of Organic Certification and should be handled in accordance with the law.文章源自FOFCC-http://fofcc.org.cn/en/11439/
In summary, the District A Bureau held that organic products sold within China must undergo Chinese organic product certification and obtain a domestic organic product certification certificate before they may be sold under the name “organic.” According to the relevant provisions of the Measures for the Administration of Organic Product Certification, products that have not obtained organic product certification may not bear the word "ORGANIC." Organic products referred to in these Measures are products whose production, processing, and sales processes comply with the national standards for organic products. With respect to organic product certification, China has issued the Measures for the Administration of Organic Product Certification and the Implementation Rules for Organic Product Certification, formulated the GB/T19630-2005 national standard for organic products, and established a set of organic product certification systems. Therefore, the sale of organic products within China should be certified in accordance with the aforementioned national standards for organic products. The foreign organic product certification certificate provided by Company A showed that the product was not certified in accordance with China's national standards for organic product certification. Therefore, in the absence of obtaining China's organic product certification, domestically produced and sold products, even if they have obtained foreign organic product certification, cannot be directly sold domestically under the name of organic products. The foreign organic product certification certificate provided by Company A was not applicable to the product involved.文章源自FOFCC-http://fofcc.org.cn/en/11439/
[Inspirations]文章源自FOFCC-http://fofcc.org.cn/en/11439/
1. Cross-provincial assistance in investigation ensured accurate determination of case facts.文章源自FOFCC-http://fofcc.org.cn/en/11439/
The manufacturer of the product involved was Company B in Province T, which supplied through Company C Trading Company in Province J to Company A in Province S for terminal retail sale; therefore, the product circulated through multiple provinces. Company A found it difficult to explain the product certification situation in detail. In order to ascertain the facts of the case, the Quality and Technical Supervision Bureau of District A separately sent investigation letters to the aforementioned companies in other provinces and cities, requesting explanations regarding the organic certification of the product involved. At the same time, the Quality and Technical Supervision Bureau of District A also sent a letter requesting assistance in investigation to certification body D located in Province J, and through the certification body confirmed that the domestic organic certification certificate submitted by the party did not cover the product involved. Finally, it sent a letter to the quality and technical supervision department where Company B was located requesting assistance in investigating the relevant circumstances of Company B's certification. Through multiple cross-provincial letters requesting assistance in investigation, the case investigation gradually became clearer step by step, the facts were ultimately ascertained, and the illegal conduct was confirmed.文章源自FOFCC-http://fofcc.org.cn/en/11439/
2. Open case trial ensured lawful and reasonable penalties.文章源自FOFCC-http://fofcc.org.cn/en/11439/
Counterfeit organic products have become a hot social issue and are also a relatively new topic in the investigation and handling of administrative illegal cases under quality and technical supervision. In order to ensure the legality and reasonableness of case handling, the District A Bureau invited five experts from the district people's congress, district procuratorate, district discipline inspection commission, district legislative affairs office, and district public security bureau to conduct an open trial of this case, that is, the expert group reviewed the case from various aspects such as jurisdiction, factual determination, and discretionary judgment, and put forward valuable opinions and suggestions, ensuring that a lawful and reasonable penalty was imposed in this case.文章源自FOFCC-http://fofcc.org.cn/en/11439/
3. Reasonable closed loop ensured comprehensive correction of illegal conduct.文章源自FOFCC-http://fofcc.org.cn/en/11439/
From production to terminal sales, the product involved circulated through multiple provinces. During the case investigation, law enforcement officers had already sent letters to the quality and technical supervision departments where the manufacturers were located requesting assistance in investigation. In the process of executing the administrative penalty, the District A Bureau did not simply impose a fine and let the matter end. In order to better regulate the operation of the organic product production and sales industry, the District A Bureau notified the quality and technical supervision departments where the product manufacturer and distributor were located of the relevant circumstances, achieving a reasonable and effective closed loop, so that illegal business conduct at each stage could be effectively corrected.文章源自FOFCC-http://fofcc.org.cn/en/11439/
(Author's affiliation: Shanghai Jing'an District Quality and Technical Supervision Bureau)文章源自FOFCC-http://fofcc.org.cn/en/11439/
China Quality and Technical Supervision, September 2013 issue 文章源自FOFCC-http://fofcc.org.cn/en/11439/