Internet shopping is just a click away, and a wide variety of goods from around the world are delivered to your door, but some foreign imported goods are problematic and may even affect consumers’ lives and health.
Recently, the Chongqing Hechuan District People’s Court concluded a product liability dispute. The defendant, Jiangsu Import & Export Trading Co., Ltd. was ordered to refund the purchase price and pay ten times the amount of compensation for the sale of faulty imported food, totaling more than 27,000 yuan.
Review of the case
In August and September 2021, the plaintiff Wang Mou, because of the needs of life, through an e-commerce platform in the defendant Jiangsu a health food import and export trading company, the official flagship shop, twice bought “so loco Solomon candy” a total of 14 boxes, payment of 2455 yuan. After receiving the candy, Wang found that the product had no Chinese label.
Wang thought that the lack of Chinese labels on the outer packaging of the goods he purchased was a clear violation of the mandatory provisions of the law, so he filed a lawsuit in court, demanding compensation from the company.
Court hearing
The court held that the “soloco candy” sold by the defendant did not have health product approval and belonged to ordinary food. According to the law, imported prepackaged food and food additives should have Chinese labels or instructions. The labels and instructions should comply with the requirements of laws, regulations, and relevant standards, and contain the origin of the food and the name, address, and contact details of the domestic agent. In addition, tadalafil was also detected in the food, which is a chemical ingredient prohibited by the State from being added to food. As a result, the court handed down the above judgment.
What the judge said
According to the Food Safety Law and related laws and regulations, imported prepackaged food should be labeled in Chinese; if there should be an instruction manual according to the law, there should also be a Chinese instruction manual, and it should comply with China’s national food safety standards. The goods involved in the case were imported food products without Chinese labels as required and chemical ingredients prohibited by the State from being added to the food were detected. The food products in the case were imported without the required Chinese labels and were found to have chemical ingredients prohibited by the State. Their consumption could have serious implications for the life and health of consumers. By awarding punitive damages often times the purchase price, the court warned the merchants that imported food should be operated in strict accordance with the Food Safety Law.
The case also reminded the majority of consumers in the purchase of imported food should pay attention to check whether the label, instructions, and inspection certificate in Chinese, for the three no products do not consume not eat, to promptly contact the market supervision and management departments for processing.
Source: Chongqing Hechuan Court micro signal
