Released by the Supreme People's Court! In a number of fake seed cases, fines amounted to more than 580,000 yuan

In a village in Mengcun Hui Autonomous County, Hebei Province, there is an agricultural material "flickering group" is walking the streets and alleys to sell seeds, and Chen is no longer packaging packaged seeds for the record, and was fined 28,500 yuan and confiscated 95 bags of corn hybrids.

An agricultural materials distribution office in Dingxing County, Baoding City, Hebei Province should be approved and unapproved crop varieties for promotion and sales, was confiscated 200 yuan of illegal income, confiscated 16 bags of unsold corn seeds, and fined 20,000 yuan.

An agricultural seed distribution office in Luan County, Tangshan City, Hebei Province operated inferior seeds, and the Luan County Agriculture and Rural Bureau ordered the parties to stop production and operation, confiscated 1,120 yuan of illegal income, and fined 15,000 yuan.

A county agriculture and rural bureau filed a case for investigation on a certain sub-mall on suspicion of operating fake seeds, and made an administrative penalty decision on a certain sub-mall, confiscated 122 bags of fake seeds and illegal gains, and imposed a fine of more than 580,000 yuan. Dissatisfied, some kind of sub-mall filed an administrative lawsuit with the people's court. This case was selected as one of the six typical cases involving product quality recently released by the Supreme People's Court.

Recently, there have been a number of seed cases exposed, let's take a look!

01

On March 13, 2024, the Agriculture and Rural Bureau of Mengcun Hui Autonomous County received a report from the masses, saying that there was an agricultural "flickering group" in a village that was walking the streets and alleys to sell seeds. After investigation, Chen entrusted the middleman Liu to purchase 100 bags of corn hybrids and hoarded *40 bags from a certain industry company. Later, Chen purchased 40 bags of corn hybrids. On March 12, 2024, Liu kept 5 bags of corn hybrids for trial planting, and delivered 95 bags of remaining corn hybrids and 40 bags of hoarding *40 bags to Chen. At the time of the incident, the above-mentioned corn varieties involved in the case had no sales circumstances and were in a state of pending sale. The suitable planting area for the introduction of maize hybrids does not include the jurisdiction of Mengcun Hui Autonomous County, and it is a crop variety that should be approved and not approved. Chen admitted that the corn hybrids Yi*, Hoard*, and Jun* sold did not establish and keep business files in accordance with the regulations, and did not file with the local agricultural and rural authorities in accordance with the regulations. He clearly knew that the business varieties of crops should be carried out in accordance with the relevant provisions of the "People's Republic of China Seed Law" but failed to comply with them, and there was subjective fault. In accordance with the provisions of Article 77, Paragraph 1, Item 1, Article 79, Paragraph 4, and Article 79, Item 5 of the People's Republic of China Seed Law, and with reference to the "Hebei Provincial Agricultural Administrative Punishment Discretion Benchmark", the Agriculture and Rural Bureau of Mengcun Hui Autonomous County imposed a fine of 28,500 yuan on Chen's behavior of promoting and selling crop varieties that should have been approved and not approved, failing to establish and keep seed business files in accordance with the regulations, and failing to file the packaged seeds that are no longer packaged in accordance with the regulations, and confiscated the corn hybrids. 95 bags of penalties decided.

(2) Typical significance: 1. Give play to mechanisms for assisting in law enforcement and case handling. In this case, the Mengcun County Agriculture and Rural Bureau gave full play to the case investigation mechanism, especially when dealing with cross-regional cases, it was able to communicate with relevant counties and cities in a timely manner to obtain key evidence in this case, breaking through the limitations of law enforcement resources and law enforcement methods in the same region, avoiding arbitrariness and subjectivity in the law enforcement process, enhancing the fairness and authority of law enforcement results, and improving the efficiency and effectiveness of comprehensive agricultural administrative law enforcement. 2. Crack down on all kinds of agricultural violations in the whole chain. In this case, by tracing the source, the source of the products involved in the case was quickly locked, the illegal supply chain was cut off, the economic losses caused by the purchase and use of the seeds involved in the case were reduced, and the whole chain cracked down on all kinds of agricultural illegal acts, which effectively deterred the lawbreakers, enhanced the trust of farmers in the agricultural materials market, and enhanced the image of agricultural law enforcement among the vast number of farmers. 02

An agricultural materials distribution office in Dingxing County should be approved but not approved crop varieties for promotion, sales

Basic facts of the caseOn April 25, 2024, the Agriculture and Rural Bureau of Dingxing County received a complaint from the Baoding Municipal Affairs Service Convenience Hotline 12345, reflecting that an agricultural materials distribution office sold Beijing* corn seeds that should be approved but were not approved. After investigation, the suitable planting areas of Beijing* corn seeds are the southern and southern areas of Baoding City and Cangzhou City in Hebei Province. According to the provisions of the Opinions of the General Office of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs on the Application of the Relevant Provisions of the Seed Law, the parties violated the provisions of Article 23 of the People's Republic of China Seed Law by promoting and selling the crop varieties that should be approved and not approved. In accordance with the provisions of Article 77, Paragraph 1, Item 1 of the Seed Law of the People's Republic of China, and with reference to the Discretionary Criteria for Agricultural Administrative Punishment in Hebei Province (seed part), the Dingxing County Agricultural and Rural Bureau ordered the parties to stop the illegal acts, confiscated 200 yuan of illegal gains, confiscated 16 bags of unsold Beijing* corn seeds, and fined 20,000 yuan.

Typical significance: 1. Norms of law enforcement procedures. After the law enforcement organs receive a report of the case leads, they shall file a case for investigation and punishment in accordance with law. Through the business license and identity information provided by the parties, it is confirmed that the parties are eligible to be individual industrial and commercial households. Through on-site inspections, inquiries, and registration of preserved items, it is proved that the parties concerned have promoted and sold crop varieties that should be approved but have not been approved. In the process of imposing administrative punishments, the law enforcement agencies fully protected the rights of the parties, and the handling of cases was open and fair. 2. Enhance the awareness of defence. Popularizing the law is the foundation, and governance is the key. In the process of law enforcement, the popularization of law should be combined with governance, so that law enforcement and popularization of law are organically unified. At the same time, the agricultural operators and farmers to carry out the rule of law publicity, guide the agricultural operators to abide by the law and regulations, operate in good faith, help farmers to improve the ability to distinguish between true and false agricultural materials and the awareness of rights protection, and effectively escort farmers to increase production and income.

03

On December 25, 2023, the Tangshan Municipal Bureau of Agriculture and Rural Affairs received the "Notice on Verifying the Results of Seed Quality Supervision and Random Inspection in the Spring of 2023 in Hebei Province" from the Hebei Provincial Agricultural Comprehensive Law Enforcement Bureau, pointing out that an agricultural seed distribution office was suspected of operating inferior seeds. After investigation, the party purchased corn seeds from a certain industry limited company, and the purity was 94.0%, which was lower than the purity indicated on the label, and according to the provisions of Article 48, Paragraph 3, Item 2 of the Seed Law of the People's Republic of China, the corn seeds were inferior seeds. In accordance with the provisions of Article 75, Paragraph 1 of the People's Republic of China People's Republic of China Seed Law, and with reference to the Discretionary Criteria for Agricultural Administrative Punishment in Hebei Province (seed part), the Luan County Agriculture and Rural Bureau ordered the party to stop production and operation, confiscated 1,120 yuan of illegal income, and fined 15,000 yuan. Typical significance

1. Perform duties strictly in accordance with the law. Seeds are the chips of agriculture, the foundation and key to agricultural production. The production and sale of fake and inferior seeds seriously endangers national food security and harms the legitimate interests of farmers, and timely and accurately cracking down on such illegal acts is the basic duty of agricultural law enforcement departments to protect the rights and interests of farmers and maintain rural stability, and is a vivid embodiment of law enforcement and agricultural protection. 2. Pay equal attention to law enforcement publicity. The case occurred during the critical period of spring ploughing, and the law enforcement agency intervened in time and quickly opened the case for investigation, preventing the spread of inferior seeds. Through equal emphasis on education and punishment, the parties realized the importance of seed quality and the consequences of illegal seed management, and achieved good legal and social effects. At the same time, the law was explained by cases, and the publicity and education of business households were strengthened, which effectively improved the awareness of business households to abide by the law.

04

Basic facts of the administrative penalty case of a certain sub-mall v. a county agriculture and rural bureau In January 2022, the administrative law enforcement brigade of a county agriculture and rural bureau carried out a random inspection of the quality of crop seeds on a certain sub-mall, and the tested samples were different from the standard samples of varieties collected and approved by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs. A county agriculture and rural bureau filed an investigation on the seed market on suspicion of operating fake seeds. After investigation, a certain sub-mall has the problem of operating fake seeds. In July 2022, a county agriculture and rural bureau made an administrative penalty decision on a certain sub-shopping mall, confiscated 122 bags of fake seeds and illegal gains, and imposed a fine of more than 580,000 yuan. Dissatisfied, a certain sub-mall filed an administrative lawsuit with the people's court on the grounds that the seed retailer had no obligation to inspect the quality and authenticity of the seeds it operated, and that it was not at fault, requesting that the administrative penalty decision be revoked. The trial court held that the agriculture and rural affairs bureau of a certain county, as the administrative department of agriculture and rural affairs of the government, was in charge of crop seed work in its jurisdiction, and had the statutory duty to impose administrative penalties on illegal acts in activities such as variety breeding and seed production, operation, use, and management within its jurisdiction. Paragraph 1 of Article 48 of the Seed Law of the People's Republic of China prohibits the production and operation of fake and inferior seeds. Item 2 of the second paragraph of this article stipulates that if the type or variety of seeds does not match the content of the label or there is no label, it is a fake seed. As a seller, a certain sub-mall sells seeds that are not marked with the production and operation license information or inconsistent with the content of the license, and the variety approval number is incorrect. The production and operation of fake seeds is expressly prohibited by law, and it is the obligation of seed operators to inspect the label content of seeds, and a certain sub-market has not fulfilled its due inspection obligations. The agriculture and rural bureau of a county comprehensively considered the consequences of its illegal acts, the value of illegal business and the number of illegal varieties and other facts to make an administrative punishment, and performed the legal procedures such as accepting the case, summoning and questioning, investigating and collecting evidence, making statements and defenses, hearing rights, collective discussion and decision-making, and service, and the punishment was not excessive. The court ruled to dismiss the claim of a certain sub-mall. Typical significance: Cangqiao is solid, and the world is safe. Seeds, as an important agricultural resource, are the foundation of food security. In order to ensure food security and agro-ecological security, seed-related production and business activities should be strictly managed. The Seed Law of the People's Republic of China expressly prohibits the production and sale of fake and inferior seeds, and seed product operators have the obligation to check the labeling content of the seeds sold, otherwise they will bear legal responsibility according to law. The judgment of this case demonstrates the clear judicial orientation of resolutely supporting the competent departments of agriculture and rural affairs to crack down on illegal acts such as the production and operation of fake and inferior seeds in accordance with the law, and is of great significance for guiding seed operators to operate in accordance with laws and regulations, protecting the legitimate rights and interests of farmers, and safeguarding food security.

Source丨Hebei Provincial Department of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, China News Network and other editors丨Nong Caijun contact Nong Caijun丨18565265490