A couple is fined 66,000 yuan for selling unqualified vegetables. Screenshot of Shenzhen Evening News
Recently, an event of excessive penalties has attracted wide attention in China. A couple surnamed Luo and He, who run a vegetable store, bought 3.5 kilograms of celery from a wholesaler in October 2021. The local market supervision department took 1 kilogram for spot checks.
A month later, the couple received the inspection report and were told that this batch of celery was unqualified.
However, the remaining 2.5 kilograms of celery had already been sold in the month and it is difficult to take them back from consumers, and the couple couldn’t demonstrate the quality of the celery as they lost the receipt of the purchase.
As a result, the local department decided to fine the couple 66,000 yuan($9,604) for selling unqualified vegetables and violating the food safety law in China.
The couple admitted that they made a mistake and accepted an appropriate punishment, but they thought 66,000 yuan was overwhelming, and they had to sell tons of celery to make that much money.
The 16th inspection group of the ninth inspection from the Chinese State Council questioned the appropriateness of the local department’s punishment decision.
Chen Xiao, a member of the inspection group, said that “law enforcement shouldn’t be only about its strictness and severity, but the market supervision departments should maintain market order and help create a good environment for the survival of small and micro businesses.”
Netizens agreed with the inspection group’s idea and held that the market supervision department should take their actual conditions into account when enforcing the law.
