With the improvement of living standards, people are paying increasing attention to dietary health, and the market is flooded with a variety oforganic foodOrganic food is natural, pollution-free healthy food, and therefore commands high quality and high prices. However, many expensive organic foods on the market are merely ordinary goods draped in an “organic” cloak, and it is difficult for ordinary consumers to judge the authenticity of organic food. Xinhua Daily Telegraph once published an article reporting on 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 department fulfills its duty to safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of consumers and guide the healthy development of theorganic certificationproduct market through various special law enforcement inspections and the investigation and handling of illegal cases. This article attempts to analyze the characteristics of this type of case through a typical case of illegal sales of organic certified products, and draw implications for case handling.Artikel berasal dariFOFCC-http://fofcc.org.cn/ms/11439/
[Case Facts]Artikel berasal dariFOFCC-http://fofcc.org.cn/ms/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 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 B Food Co., Ltd. of Province T (hereinafter referred to as Company B). The law enforcement officers requested Company A to provide the relevantorganic productcertification certificates, but the company failed to provide them. The law enforcement officers conducted sampling and evidence collection of the aforementioned products and promptly initiated a case 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. After confirmation, neither of the aforementioned two certificates was applicable to the products involved in the case. Therefore, the Quality and Technical Supervision Bureau of District A ultimately imposed corresponding administrative penalties on Company A in accordance with the law.Artikel berasal dariFOFCC-http://fofcc.org.cn/ms/11439/
[Focus]Artikel berasal dariFOFCC-http://fofcc.org.cn/ms/11439/
1. Is the domestic organic certification certificate applicable?Artikel berasal dariFOFCC-http://fofcc.org.cn/ms/11439/
During the case investigation, Company A provided an organic product certification certificate issued by domestic certification body D. According to the product description in this certificate, the “organic wheat noodles,” “organic multigrain noodles,” and “organic vegetable noodles” produced by Company B had passed relevant organic product certification and complied with 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 of assistance in investigation to certification body D, which issued the organic product certification certificate, requesting confirmation of whether “udon noodles” were consistent with “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.Artikel berasal dariFOFCC-http://fofcc.org.cn/ms/11439/
Therefore, the District A Bureau held that the domestic organic certification certificate provided by the party was not applicable to this case. The reason is: 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 in the case. When conducting organic product certification, certification bodies take products as the object of certification, because different products made from the same raw materials may also have 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 in the case.Artikel berasal dariFOFCC-http://fofcc.org.cn/ms/11439/
2. Is the foreign organic certification certificate applicable?Artikel berasal dariFOFCC-http://fofcc.org.cn/ms/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 this foreign organic product certification certificate:Artikel berasal dariFOFCC-http://fofcc.org.cn/ms/11439/
(1) Since what the party provided was an overseas certificate and a photocopy, the Quality and Technical Supervision Bureau of District A sent a letter of assistance in investigation to the Quality and Technical Supervision Bureau of District B, where the product manufacturer Company B is 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.Artikel berasal dariFOFCC-http://fofcc.org.cn/ms/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 of foreign organic certification companies, but only for export products.Artikel berasal dariFOFCC-http://fofcc.org.cn/ms/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.Artikel berasal dariFOFCC-http://fofcc.org.cn/ms/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 can be sold under the name of organic products. According to the relevant provisions of the Measures for the Administration of Organic Product Certification, products that have not obtained organic product certification shall not bear the word “ORGANIC.” Organic products referred to in these Measures are products whose production, processing, and sales processes comply with 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 national standard GB/T19630-2005 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, without 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 products involved in the case.Artikel berasal dariFOFCC-http://fofcc.org.cn/ms/11439/
[Implications]Artikel berasal dariFOFCC-http://fofcc.org.cn/ms/11439/
1. Cross-provincial collaborative investigation to ensure accurate determination of case factsArtikel berasal dariFOFCC-http://fofcc.org.cn/ms/11439/
The manufacturer of the products involved in the case was Company B of Province T, which supplied through Trading Company C of Province J to Company A of Province S for terminal retail, and therefore the products 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 out-of-province companies, requesting explanations regarding the organic certification of the products involved. At the same time, the Quality and Technical Supervision Bureau of District A also sent a letter of 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 products involved in the case. Finally, it sent a letter to the quality and technical supervision department where Company B is located requesting assistance in investigating the relevant certification situation of Company B. Through multiple cross-provincial letters requesting collaborative investigation, the case investigation gradually became clearer step by step, and ultimately the facts were ascertained and the illegal conduct confirmed.Artikel berasal dariFOFCC-http://fofcc.org.cn/ms/11439/
2. Open case trial to ensure lawful and reasonable penaltiesArtikel berasal dariFOFCC-http://fofcc.org.cn/ms/11439/
Counterfeit organic products have become a hot social issue, and this is 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 this case from various aspects including 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.Artikel berasal dariFOFCC-http://fofcc.org.cn/ms/11439/
3. Reasonable closed loop to ensure comprehensive correction of illegal conductArtikel berasal dariFOFCC-http://fofcc.org.cn/ms/11439/
The products involved in the case circulated through multiple provinces from production to terminal sales. During the case investigation, law enforcement officers had already sent letters to the quality and technical supervision department where the manufacturer is located requesting collaborative investigation. In the process of executing the administrative penalty, the District A Bureau did not simply impose a fine and close the matter. In order to better regulate the operations 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 are located of the relevant circumstances, achieving a reasonable and effective closed loop, so that illegal business conduct at all stages could be effectively corrected.Artikel berasal dariFOFCC-http://fofcc.org.cn/ms/11439/
(Author's affiliation: Quality and Technical Supervision Bureau of Jing'an District, Shanghai)Artikel berasal dariFOFCC-http://fofcc.org.cn/ms/11439/
China Quality and Technical Supervision, September 2013 issue Artikel berasal dariFOFCC-http://fofcc.org.cn/ms/11439/