On 31 December, the SPC and the Supreme People's Procuratorate jointly issued the Interpretation on Several Issues Concerning the Application of Law in handling Criminal Cases of Endangering Food Safety (hereinafter referred to as the Interpretation). He Li, president of the First Criminal Division of the Supreme People's Court, said that the Interpretation further tightens the criminal law network for punishing crimes endangering food safety in accordance with the law by improving the standards for the conviction and sentencing of crimes related to food safety, and provides a clear legal basis for cracking down on related crimes.
He Li said that the Interpretation reflects the policy orientation of severe punishment, such as increasing the protection of the whole chain of food safety in the Criminal Law by stipulating the punishment of pesticides, veterinary drugs, feed and other prohibited drugs that endanger food safety upstream crimes; by stipulating the punishment for selling food that exceeds the shelf life, recycling food, etc., to achieve all-round protection of food safety in the Criminal Law, providing a clearer legal basis for cracking down on related crimes. By revising the criteria for determining "other serious circumstances" of crimes endangering food safety, the intensity of severe punishment will be increased.
He Li mentioned that in judicial practice, the illegal and criminal problem of adding banned drugs to pesticides, veterinary drugs and feed is prominent, and although such acts do not directly constitute crimes that endanger food safety, they are upstream crimes that endanger food safety, seriously threaten the quality and safety of edible agricultural products, have serious social harm, and need to be regulated urgently. Accordingly, the Interpretation clearly stipulates that the commission of such acts may be convicted and punished according to the crime of illegal business operation.
In order to effectively crack down on difficult problems in water-injected meat cases, clarify the legal basis, and unify the application of law, the Interpretation also clearly stipulates the characterization and punishment standards of water injection and drug injection cases in the relevant links of livestock and poultry slaughtering: In the relevant links of livestock and poultry slaughter, the use of toxic and harmful non-food raw materials such as banned drugs for livestock and poultry is convicted and punished for the crime of producing and selling toxic and harmful food; if the livestock and poultry are injected with water or other substances, which are enough to cause serious food poisoning accidents or other serious foodborne diseases, they are convicted and punished for the crime of producing and selling toxic and harmful food; Where the crime of selling food that does not meet safety standards is convicted and punished; although it is not sufficient to cause serious food poisoning accidents or other serious foodborne diseases, but it meets the requirements of article 140 of the Criminal Law, the crime of producing and selling counterfeit and shoddy products shall be convicted and punished.
According to reports, from 2013 to 2021, courts across the country have concluded more than 38,000 criminal cases of producing and selling food that does not meet safety standards and the crime of producing and selling toxic and harmful food, and the number of people sentenced is more than 52,000. In addition, a large number of criminal cases involving the production and sale of counterfeit and shoddy products that endanger food safety and the crime of illegal business operation have been tried in accordance with the law.
Red Star News reporter Gao Xin
Edited by Yixi Chen
(Download Red Star News, there are prizes for the newspaper!) ）
