Chen Weidong: Is it illegal to overprice Starbucks coffee?
(Source: "Procuratorial Daily"2013Year10month25日）
Following Apple, Fonterra, Mead Johnson, and GlaxoSmithKline, another foreign brand has recently fallen into the whirlpool of public opinion.10month20On the 9308_9388th day, CCTV News Channel broadcast the "Starbucks Coffee Global Market Survey", which pointed out that the price of Starbucks coffee in my country is much higher than that in the United States and Europe. Therefore, it questioned Starbucks' unreasonable pricing and high profits in my country, saying that this was against the law“Fair w88 principle”，“There should be no discrimination against consumers from any country”。
In response to this accusation, our reporter interviewedChen Weidong, expert on legal issues of the World w88 Organization and professor at the Law w88 casino of the w88 casino.He believes that this does not fall within the scope of the fair w88 principle in general international w88 law. The basic meaning of the WTO fair w88 principle is that WTO members and export operators are not allowed to use unfair w88 practices such as low-price dumping or subsidies to undermine the order of competition in the international w88 market. The price of Starbucks coffee in China is higher, not lower than that in the United States, so it does not violate fair w88 principles”。
Professor Liu Junhai, Director of the Institute of Commercial Law of Renmin University of China, believes that“If CCTV’s investigation is true, then Starbucks’ behavior may involve infringing on consumers’ rights to fair w88”. my country’s Consumer Rights Protection Law No.10Article 10787_10848| stipulates that consumers enjoy the right to fair transactions. When consumers purchase goods or receive services, they have the right to obtain fair transaction conditions such as quality assurance, reasonable prices, and correct measurement.“The core of fair w88 is that consumers exchange a certain amount of currency for goods or services of equal value. Therefore, operators should treat consumers equally and cannot favor one over another.”
Some media questioned whether Starbucks coffee was overpriced and suspected of violating price laws,Chen WeidongPoint out that according to Article 1 of the Price Law18Article 11462_11534| The government may control a very small number of commodities that are closely related to the development of the national economy and people's lives, a small number of commodities with scarce resources, commodities operated by natural monopolies, important public utilities, important public welfare undertakings, etc.5The prices of goods and services are subject to government guidance prices or government pricing.“Coffee is not a necessary consumer product in our country, not here511653_11687”
Liu Junhai emphasized that companies, especially some multinational companies, must also consider their own social responsibilities when setting prices.“When Starbucks faces China, a market with huge potential, it must take a long-term view, respect the opinions of consumers, and control profits within a reasonable range.”
“In this crisis, we must respect consumers’ choices and leave the decision-making power to consumers.”Chen Weidongand Liu Junhai agree that if consumers believe they have been infringed, they can file a lawsuit according to law.
