The lawyer said, "The people are the foundation of the country, and the valley is the life of the people." "It's the spring planting season, and it's important for farmers to choose the right seeds. The act of manufacturing and selling fake seeds not only disrupts the order of the market economy, but also affects agricultural production and causes immeasurable losses. In March 2024, a netizen in Hunan posted on the red net that some people in rural areas were deceiving everywhere and selling fake fertilizers and seeds. What punishment will be given to those who know how to sell fake goods and harm peasants? In this regard, Li Wei, a lawyer at Hunan Limo Law Firm, gave a professional answer. What are the legal responsibilities for the production and sale of fake and inferior fertilizers and seeds?
The law strictly prohibits the production and operation of fake and inferior fertilizers and seeds, and severely cracks down on the illegal acts of producing and trading fake and inferior fertilizers and seeds. The production and operation of fake and inferior fertilizers and seeds shall bear civil, administrative and criminal legal responsibilities. This includes civil liability for compensating for losses, administrative punishment of being ordered to stop production and operation, confiscation of illegal gains and seeds, revocation of seed production and business licenses, revocation of business licenses, and heavy fines; and criminal punishment for those who commit the crime of producing and selling fake and inferior chemical fertilizers and seeds. Civil liability: Article 1203 of the Civil Code stipulates that if a defective product causes damage to others, the infringed party may claim compensation from the manufacturer of the product or the seller of the product. Article 45 of the Seed Law of the People's Republic of China stipulates that if a seed user suffers losses due to seed quality problems or the untruthfulness of the labels and instructions for use of seeds, the seed user may claim compensation from the operator who sold the seeds, and may also claim compensation from the seed producer or other operators. The amount of compensation includes the purchase price, loss of profits and other losses. Administrative responsibility: Article 50 of the Product Quality Law of the People's Republic of China stipulates: Anyone who mixes or adulterates a product, passes off a fake product as genuine, uses a shoddy product, or passes off a substandard product as a qualified product, shall be ordered to stop production and sales, confiscate the illegally produced and sold product, and impose a fine of not less than 50 percent but not more than three times the value of the illegally produced or sold product; if there are illegal gains, the illegal gains shall be confiscated; if the circumstances are serious, the business license shall be revoked; and if a crime is constituted, criminal responsibility shall be investigated according to law. Article 52 of the "Product Quality Law of the People's Republic of China" stipulates that anyone who sells invalid or deteriorated products shall be ordered to stop selling, confiscate the illegally sold products, and impose a fine of less than twice the value of the illegally sold products; if there are illegal gains, the illegal gains shall be confiscated; if the circumstances are serious, the business license shall be revoked; and if a crime is constituted, criminal responsibility shall be investigated according to law. Article 75 of the "Seed Law of the People's Republic of China" stipulates that anyone who produces or sells inferior seeds shall be ordered by the competent departments of agriculture, rural affairs, forestry and grassland of the people's government at or above the county level to stop production and operation, and confiscate the illegal gains and seeds; if the value of the goods in the illegal production and operation is less than 20,000 yuan, a fine of not less than 10,000 yuan but not more than 100,000 yuan shall be imposed; if the value of the goods is more than 20,000 yuan, a fine of not less than five times but not more than ten times the value of the goods shall be imposed and the license for seed production and operation shall be revoked if the circumstances are serious. Criminal liability: Article 147 of the Criminal Law stipulates that the production of fake pesticides, fake veterinary drugs, or fake chemical fertilizers, and the sale of pesticides, veterinary drugs, fertilizers, and seeds that are known to be fake or have lost their effectiveness, or the producers or sellers pass off substandard pesticides, veterinary drugs, fertilizers, and seeds as qualified pesticides, veterinary drugs, or fertilizers. Anyone who suffers a relatively large loss in production shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not more than three years or short-term detention and/or a fine of not less than 50 percent but not more than two times the amount of sales; if he suffers major losses in production, he shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not less than three years but not more than seven years and shall also be fined not less than 50 percent but not more than two times the amount of sales; and if he suffers especially heavy losses in production, he shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not less than seven years or life imprisonment and shall also be fined not less than 50 percent but not more than two times the amount of sales or confiscation of property. Article 23 of the notice of the Supreme People's Procuratorate and the Ministry of Public Security on the issuance of the "Provisions of the Supreme People's Procuratorate and the Ministry of Public Security on the Standards for Filing and Prosecution of Criminal Cases under the Jurisdiction of Public Security Organs (1)" stipulates that if a person produces fake pesticides, fake veterinary drugs or fake chemical fertilizers, sells pesticides, veterinary drugs, fertilizers or seeds that he knows to be fake or has lost his or her effectiveness, or if a producer or seller passes off substandard pesticides, veterinary drugs, fertilizers or seeds as qualified pesticides, veterinary drugs, fertilizers or seeds, and is suspected of any of the following circumstances, a case shall be filed for prosecution: (1). (2) Other circumstances that cause production losses of 20,000 yuan or more;
According to the relevant laws and regulations, if the seller knows that the fertilizer or seed is fake or has lost its efficiency, or passes off the substandard fertilizer or seed as a qualified fertilizer or seed, and such behavior causes a large loss to production (for example, the loss reaches 20,000 yuan), it constitutes the crime of selling fake and inferior fertilizer or seed, and shall be prosecuted.
What should farmers do if they buy fake fertilizers and seeds? How to properly protect their rights?
Once a farmer buys fake and inferior seeds, the key to protecting his rights is evidence, and the purchaser should keep (1) proof of purchase and payment: such as delivery notes, invoices, sales bills, etc. (2) Seed packaging. It is best to keep unplanted seed samples in packaging bags and cans. In the case of a large number of purchased seeds, it is best to keep unopened samples. In addition to the above-mentioned primary evidence, seed users should also pay attention to the collection of some relevant ancillary evidence, which has an effective supplementary effect on the primary evidence. For example, seed instruction manuals, warning signs, letter of commitment from seed operators, advertising materials, etc., can be conditionally filmed as video evidence of the sales site. Purchasers can protect their rights through the following channels: 1. Complaints. Call the 12316 agricultural service hotline to make a complaint or complain to the local agricultural and rural authorities. 2. Filing a lawsuit with the court. Learn to take up the weapon of the law and directly sue the operators and producers who sell fake and inferior seeds to the people's courts in accordance with the law, and the people's courts will adjudicate according to the law, and the operators and producers will compensate the victims for their economic losses in accordance with the law.
3. Criminal report. When it is found that the purchase of counterfeit and inferior fertilizers and seeds has brought major harm and economic losses to production, it can be reported to the local public security organ, and the public security organ will handle it in accordance with the law.
Who will bear the loss of agricultural output due to fake agricultural materials, and whether there are any remedial measures?
If the sale of fake and shoddy agricultural products causes damage to crops, producers and sellers shall be liable for compensation for the loss of farmers' purchase price and available profits. Article 1203 of the Civil Code stipulates that if a defective product causes damage to others, the infringed party may claim compensation from the manufacturer of the product or from the seller of the product. Article 45 of the Seed Law of the People's Republic of China stipulates that if a seed user suffers losses due to seed quality problems or the untruthfulness of the labels and instructions for use of seeds, the seed user may claim compensation from the operator who sold the seeds, or from the seed producer or other operators. The amount of compensation includes the purchase price, loss of profits and other losses. If you find that you have bought fake agricultural materials, you need to keep the evidence (such as contracts, invoices, payment records and other evidence), according to the law to the seller of fake agricultural materials and the producer of fake agricultural materials to carry out a civil lawsuit, requiring it to bear the liability for compensation.
Secondly, if there are many people to buy fake agricultural materials, or due to the purchase of fake agricultural materials caused by the loss of a large amount, you can also report to the local public security organs, by the public case organs for investigation, according to the law to investigate the seller and producer criminal responsibility.
*This article was answered by Li Wei, a lawyer at Hunan Limo Law Firm.
Source: Red Net Editor of this issue: Li Zixuan Li Jie
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