Crabs with unknown causes of death are processed into crab yellow crab meat for distribution, infringing on the public interest, and the local procuratorial organs and market supervision departments work together to protect the "safety on the tip of the tongue" of the people.
On October 11, the Supreme People's Procuratorate held a press conference with the theme of "Thoroughly Implementing the Opinions of the CPC Central Committee and Promoting and Improving the Linkage Mechanism for Executions", released the Provisions on Promoting the Linkage between Administrative Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice, and the Typical Cases of the People's Procuratorate's Execution Linkage Work, which disclosed the "case of Jiangsu Xiao X and others producing and selling food that did not meet safety standards".
Between 2017 and October 2018, Xiao and others processed crabs of unknown cause of death into crab yellow crab meat and distributed them in a refrigeration plant in Xiangcheng District, Suzhou City, Jiangsu Province, without obtaining food production and sales licenses. Subsequently, the crab meat and crab products involved in the case were made into dishes such as "crab yellow shark fin" by a hotel for many unspecified consumers to eat.
At the beginning of October 2018, after the market supervision department of Xiangcheng District of Suzhou City discovered case clues in its daily work, it invited the procuratorial organs to intervene and provide assistance on the research and judgment of clues and the characterization of cases in accordance with the administrative law enforcement and criminal justice coordination mechanism established with the Xiangcheng District Procuratorate.
Prosecutors visit hairy crab farmers.
After the Xiangcheng District Procuratorate received the invitation of the district market supervision department to consult and assist, it immediately dispatched key case-handling cadres to set up a group of experts. After repeatedly studying and judging the clues with law enforcement personnel, the procurator determined that the dens involved in the case did indeed have the act of processing dead crab products, and the duration was long. In response to the market supervision department's doubts about whether the above-mentioned acts are suspected of being crimes, the procurator handling the case consulted the "National Standards for Food Safety (Fresh and Frozen Animal Aquatic Products)", visited farmers, nutritionists and listened to opinions, and after comparing the relevant provisions of the "Two Supremes" "Interpretation on Several Issues Concerning the Application of Law in Handling Criminal Cases of Endangering Food Safety", the procurator found that the act was suspected of food safety crimes.
On October 30, 2018, the Xiangcheng District Procuratorate submitted a written opinion to the market supervision department, recommending that the case be transferred to the public security organs. On the same day, the market supervision department transferred the case to the public security organ and sent a copy of the relevant materials to the procuratorate.
It is reported that the market supervision department of Xiangcheng District and the public security organs jointly seized a large number of dead crabs and crab products in the factory building involved in the case, with a total weight of about 2.86 tons.
After the public security organs filed and investigated the case, the Xiangcheng District Procuratorate sent personnel to intervene in the investigation and collect evidence, put forward opinions on how to classify and seal, weigh, sample and send for inspection, etc., and suggested that the whole process of seizure and sealing be videotaped and the seized dead crab products be appraised. In the course of the investigation, the procurator suggested that an electronic physical evidence inquest report be drafted in strict accordance with procedures, and that the amount of money involved in the case be verified through chat records and transfer records in multiple mobile phones involved in the case, and the degree of damage to the public interest was determined.
The Xiangcheng District Procuratorate has set up a special case-handling team, with the chief procurator taking the lead in handling the case. After an in-depth analysis of the evidence in the case, the case-handling team determined that the processing of dead crab food in the dens lasted for a long time, and the distribution flowed into the market to supply unspecified consumers to eat, infringing on the social public interest, and should initiate a criminal incidental civil public interest lawsuit in the case. On December 29, 2018, the Xiangcheng District Procuratorate filed a public prosecution against Xiao X and five other defendants on suspicion of producing and selling food that did not meet safety standards, and incidentally filed a civil public interest lawsuit.
The trial was held in the case of Xiao X and others who produced and sold food that did not meet safety standards.
In February 2019, the court sentenced defendant Xiao X and others to the crime of producing and selling food that did not meet safety standards in accordance with the law, and sentenced them to fixed-term imprisonment ranging from one year and six months to criminal detention, and imposed fines ranging from 90,000 yuan to 2,000 yuan; some defendants were suspended and prohibited from engaging in food production, sales and related activities during the probation period of probation; at the same time, Xiao X and other defendants were sentenced to bear a total of 390,900 yuan in punitive damages, and publicly apologized in the national media. More than 60 people, including people's congress deputies, members of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, administrative law enforcement organs, and hairy crab farmers, observed the trial.
After the case was concluded, in view of the lack of normative documents for the recovery of dead crabs and the unclear functions of the department, the Xiangcheng District Procuratorate suggested that the district urban management department improve the aquatic product recovery mechanism such as dead crabs, set up centralized recycling points for dead crabs, and introduce scientific and technological equipment to crush and reuse. In addition, the hospital also cooperated with the district market supervision and management department to issue brochures and publicize the law to key groups such as hairy crab farmers and dealers in a variety of ways, and achieved good social results.
Source: Procuratorial Daily Justice Network