Recently, the Jiusan People's Court of Heilongjiang Province heard a case involving a seed dispute, and invited 7 representatives of relevant enterprises in the jurisdiction to participate in the hearing, "zero distance" to explain the law with the case.
[Basic case details] In April 2023, during the spring plowing and preparation period, farmer Zhao purchased 7,500 catties of seeds after checking rice seed samples in a certain industrial company. A few days later, Zhao, who received the seeds, found that the seeds were inconsistent with the samples he had checked, so he reported them to the local agricultural law enforcement brigade. After being appraised by the local agricultural law enforcement brigade, it was found that the rice seeds sold by a certain industrial company were fake seeds, and after Zhao repeatedly negotiated with him for compensation to no avail, he sued a certain industrial company to the Jiusan People's Court, demanding a refund of the seed money and compensation for losses.
The court held that according to the chat records provided by Zhao and the receipts issued by a certain industrial company, it could be proved that Zhao purchased rice seeds from a certain industrial company, and according to the appraisal report of the Agricultural Law Enforcement Brigade, the rice seeds provided to the plaintiff by a certain industrial company as the seller of the seeds involved in the case were fake rice seeds. According to the Seed Law of the People's Republic of China, if a seed user suffers losses due to seed quality problems or because the content of the label and instructions for use of the seeds is untrue, the seed user may claim compensation from the operator who sold the seeds. The Jiusan People's Court ordered a certain industrial company to compensate Zhao for various losses totaling 28,500 yuan within five days from the date of the judgment taking effect.
After the trial, the representatives of the enterprises said that "this is not only a simple observation of the trial, but also a wake-up call for us." In the spring ploughing and preparation production, we will strictly control the product packaging, expiration date, certificate, anti-counterfeiting mark and other relevant information, strengthen seed safety management, and consolidate the foundation of food security. ”
【Judge's Statement】Now is the critical period for spring plowing and planting, remind farmers and friends that the seed type and variety do not match the content of the label or there is no label for the seed, that is, fake seeds. The purchase of seeds should be selected with a seed production and business license or in the agricultural authorities for the record of the regular store, when buying to carefully check the seed packaging and labels, check the information code, ask for shopping vouchers and pay attention to retention, if there is an abnormality after planting, should protect the field site, timely to the local agricultural authorities to reflect, for help.
Article 46 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 content marked on the label and instructions for use of the seeds, the seed user may claim compensation from the operator who sold the seed, and may also claim compensation from the seed producer or other operator. The amount of compensation includes the purchase price, loss of profits and other losses. If it is the responsibility of the seed producer or other operator, the operator who sold the seeds shall have the right to recover from the seed producer or other operator after compensation;
Article 49 of the Seed Law of the People's Republic of China stipulates that the production and operation of fake and inferior seeds is prohibited. The competent departments of agriculture and forestry and relevant departments shall crack down on the illegal acts of producing and trading fake and inferior seeds in accordance with the law, protect the legitimate rights and interests of farmers, and maintain the market order of fair competition.
The following seeds are false seeds:
(1) Passing off non-seeds as seeds or seeds of such varieties as seeds of other varieties;
(2) The type or variety of seeds does not match the content of the label or there is no label.
The following seeds are inferior:
(1) The quality is lower than the standards provided by the state;
(2) The quality is lower than the label index;
(3) Quarantine pests provided for by the State.
Article 75 of the "Seed Law of the People's Republic of China" stipulates that anyone who violates the provisions of Article 49 of this Law by producing or trading fake seeds shall be ordered by the competent departments of agriculture and forestry of the people's government at or above the county level to stop production and operation, confiscate illegal gains and seeds, and revoke the seed production and business license; if the value of the goods for illegal production and operation is less than 10,000 yuan, a fine of not less than 10,000 yuan but not more than 100,000 yuan shall be imposed; and if the value of the goods is more than 10,000 yuan, a fine of not less than 10 times but not more than 20 times the value of the goods shall be imposed.
If a person is sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment or higher for the crime of producing and trading fake seeds, the legal representative or directly responsible person in charge of the seed enterprise or other units shall not serve as the legal representative or senior manager of the seed enterprise for five years from the date of completion of the criminal punishment.
Article 147 of the Criminal Law of the People's Republic of China stipulates that the production of fake pesticides, fake veterinary drugs, and 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 that producers and 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.
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Source: Heilongjiang Provincial Agricultural Reclamation Intermediate Court
Editors of this issue: Wang Meihong, Wei Rong
Review in this issue: Zhai Yiting
Producer of this issue: Zheng Hongyan
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