Imagine that you buy a Band-Aid in a small shop, but the owner is fined 1.5 million yuan for it! Doesn't that sound outrageous? Recently, such cases have been appearing all around us, and the commissary run by a small company may face sky-high fines for selling some daily medicines, such as band-aids and wind oil essence.
According to the Drug Administration Law of the People's Republic of China, all drug sales require a strict licensing system. This includes some OCT products that we consider to be household medicines, such as Band-Aids and Wind Oil Essence.
The law stipulates that the sale of such drugs without permission will face high fines, which can be 15 to 30 times the value of the goods, with a minimum of 1.5 million yuan.
The original purpose of this system is to ensure the standardization and safety of drug sales and to ensure that the health of consumers is not harmed. In the actual implementation process, it has brought a lot of controversy.
Take Mr. Zhang's shop, for example, in a busy neighborhood center in Beijing. Mr. Zhang's commissary offers everything from snacks to daily necessities, including band-aids and wind oil.
During an inadvertent inspection, Mr. Zhang was told he could face a fine of $1.5 million for selling several boxes of band-aids.
For a small store like Mr. Zhang, whose daily turnover is only a few hundred yuan, a fine of 1.5 million yuan is tantamount to astronomical amounts. Mr. Zhang, like many similar commissary owners, did not fully understand the relevant legal provisions.
Under the dual effect of pressure and public opinion, some localities have begun to try to adjust their law enforcement methods. In some areas, before punishing the commissary, a warning and education will be given, and a certain period of rectification will be given.
While this approach has eased some tensions, the underlying problem remains. Commissaries in the community are still in a precarious legal gray area, and if they are detected, they can still face unbearable fines.
In this context, relevant departments and social forces have also begun to explore more reasonable solutions. Some experts suggested that the Drug Administration Act should be appropriately amended to create an exception for small-scale sales, or to provide a simple license for the sale of drugs to commissaries, which would ensure the basic safety requirements of drugs without placing an undue burden on small merchants.