w88 casino News Network (provided by the w88 casino of Government)On May 9, 2023, the Market Supervision Forum (Sixth Issue) "Safety Compliance Guidelines for Online Sales of Special Foods" seminar hosted by the Market Supervision Institute of the w88 casino was successfully held in w88 casino.
Relevant leaders from the Special Food Department, Food Business Department, and Network Supervision Department of the State Administration for Market Regulation, heads of special food supervision departments of some local market supervision bureaus, operator representatives of third-party platforms, and experts and scholars from the w88 casino, China People's Public Security University, and Hebei Agricultural University attended the seminar online and offline. Forum byProfessor Yu Haichun, Dean of the w88 casino of Government and the Institute of Market Regulation of the w88 casino, presided over the meeting. Professor Wang Jingbo, member of the Standing Committee of the Party Committee and Vice President of the w88 casino, delivered a speech.
In his speech, Vice President Wang Jingbo first expressed his warm welcome and heartfelt thanks to the leaders, experts, scholars and third-party platform representatives who participated in the meeting. She pointed out that the Institute of Market Supervision of the w88 casino was established based on the trust and strong support of the State Administration for Market Regulation and all sectors of society. It is currently the only professional research institution in China with market supervision as its main research field. Since its establishment, the Institute has made full use of the unique disciplinary advantages of the w88 casino to actively serve the construction of a unified national market and improve the pattern of market governance. It has carried out a series of brand activities, including responding to some major and difficult issues in the field of market supervision by holding a series of forums on market supervision, anchoring the forefront of market supervision with the "Market Supervision Reference", and proposing forward-looking government suggestions for key areas of market supervision, etc. She said that the proposition of selling special foods online is very important and forward-looking, and requires multiple forces to participate in governance under the market supervision system. Today's seminar will be held in the form of a special discussion, bringing together government, experts, enterprises and other resources for in-depth discussions. It aims to set up a platform for full exchanges between government, academia and enterprises, and promote the in-depth theoretical research and integration with practice. We hope that all academic experts and industry representatives will contribute their insights and provide constructive suggestions for improving the "Safety Compliance Guidelines for Special Foods Sold Online".
The project leader, Vice President of the Institute of Market Supervision of the w88 casino, and researcher Ji Wei of the w88 casino of Government, reported on the basic content and main research conclusions of the "Safety Compliance Guidelines for Special Foods Sold Online" (Discussion Draft) from four aspects: formal structure, definitional terms and scope, selection of standard provisions of laws and regulations, and key contents of compliance guidelines. He said that based on the need for operators and law enforcement agencies to better understand and apply laws, regulations and standards, the "Guide" (discussion draft) centralized and classified the laws, regulations and standard provisions involving online sales of special foods to facilitate the inquiry and use of operators and regulators; it also refined definitions of some concepts and terms that are prone to ambiguity in understanding; and interpreted some key legal provisions. At the same time, researcher Ji Wei put forward targeted guidance and suggestions on problems that are likely to arise in the application of relevant regulations, hoping to truly assist the production, operation and administrative supervision of special food sold online.
Representatives from third-party platform operators such as Taobao, JD.com, Pinduoduo, Meituan, Douyin, Kuaishou and other relevant persons in charge of special food operation supervision from local market supervision bureaus in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangdong Province, Zhejiang Province, Hubei Province and other local market supervision bureaus expressed their opinions on the "Safety Compliance Guidelines for Online Sales of Special Foods" (discussion draft) from the perspective of practical needs. While everyone affirmed the necessity and importance of the Guide, they also put forward suggestions for improving some specific statements in the Guide (discussion draft).
Professor Li Jun, Executive Dean of the Market Supervision Institute of the w88 casino and w88 casino of Law, believes that the "Compliance Guidelines" have been increasingly used in the field of market supervision in recent years. Special food safety is very important, online sales formats are diverse and complex, and relevant legal basis are numerous and scattered. The introduction of the "Guidelines" has important practical value. He agreed with the principles for the preparation of the "Guidelines" (discussion draft) and believed that the "Guidelines" are not regulations and are not mandatory. However, because they are issued by regulatory agencies, they still have strong guidance and influence. Therefore, legality and accuracy should be emphasized, and relevant guidelines and suggestions should be extended. Professor Li Jun proposed that in addition to clarifying and explaining difficult issues related to legal provisions, the "Compliance Guide" should also guide operators to establish a compliance management system, and suggested that the "Guide" (discussion draft) can strengthen and enrich this aspect.
Professor Li Chunlei, director of the Food, Drug and Environmental Crime Research Center of the People's Public Security University of China, introduced the work experience of public security food and drug investigation and inspection, and proposed that the formulation of the "Guidelines" should combine light and heavy matters and highlight key points. He pointed out that first of all, the issue of "two excesses and one non-compliance" is the focus of the guideline, and it is recommended that the "two superpowers and one non-compliance" blacklist be refined in the future to improve the operability of the guideline. Secondly, regarding the guiding role of the guideline, it is necessary to properly extend and innovate with rigorous wording on the basis of respecting the higher-level laws, so as to lay a foundation for the improvement of laws, regulations, and departmental rules in the future. Finally, Professor Li Chunlei emphasized the importance of third-party platform governance. Administrative agencies have limited regulatory resources. He suggested increasing the responsibility of third-party platforms and focusing on post-event supervision of the platforms.
Associate Professor Sun Juanjuan of Hebei Agricultural University pointed out in his speech that the purpose of formulating the "Guidelines" is to solve the food safety problems of special products sold online, so specific guidance is needed for platform sales. Regarding the "Safety Compliance Guidelines for Special Foods Sold Online" (discussion draft), Associate Professor Sun Juanjuan believes: First, from the content point of view, this guideline is mainly a legal compliance guideline, and the scope can be expanded. Second, focusing on the keyword "sales", the guidelines need to play a greater role in solving compliance issues such as after-sales, consumer rights protection, combating counterfeit and shoddy goods, and secondary sales. In addition, Associate Professor Sun Juanjuan also made suggestions on specific terms and conditions such as the platform’s recall and traceability obligations, reminder obligations, and platform responsibilities.
Li Zhiguo, a fourth-level researcher at the Food Sales Supervision Division of the Food Business Department of the State Administration for Market Regulation, pointed out that special food management and general food management have commonalities, and the "Safety Compliance Guidelines for Special Foods Sold on the Internet" solve the three most critical issues. The first question is what are the specific requirements of the guidelines. The current content is very detailed and clear. The second question is also the key question, which is how to do it. He said that by drawing on normative requirements and practices in the offline field and referring to the current and effective practices of the platform, it is necessary to further implement the two responsibilities of food operations. The third question is how well the guidelines are implemented, which is also the focus of subsequent attention by regulatory authorities.
Zhou Yan, director of the Internet Transaction Rules Division of the Internet Supervision Department of the State Administration for Market Regulation, said that the guiding role of compliance guidelines must be used to provide prior and in-process guidance to all parties involved in online transactions to ensure fair transactions. Director Zhou Yan suggested that industry consensus and common platform practices should be introduced into the guide. Regarding the revision of the specific content of the "Special Food Safety Compliance Guidelines for Online Sales", she believes that laws and regulations are stable. In addition to citing the relevant provisions of the "Food Safety Law" for qualification requirements, the relevant provisions of the "E-Commerce Law" can be cited for business requirements such as registration, licensing, and publicity.
Yu Wei, Director of the Infant Food Supervision Division of the Special Food Department of the State Administration for Market Regulation, expressed her gratitude to experts and business representatives for their opinions and suggestions. She pointed out that this is the first time to solicit opinions on the "Guidelines". Next, further discussions will be made to improve the "Online Sales of Special Food Safety Compliance Guidelines" to improve the operability of the guidelines.
Chen Jian, the second-level inspector of the Special Food Department of the State Administration for Market Regulation, pointed out in his speech that the "Safety Compliance Guidelines for Special Foods Sold Online" are of great significance and highly affirmed the content of the "Guidelines" (discussion draft). Regarding the revision of the Guide, he believes that the Guide is mainly intended for Internet operators. He suggests that on the basis of maintaining the professionalism of the Guide, from the perspective of Internet operators, the Guide should be modified to be more suitable for ordinary Internet operators to read and understand. The entry threshold for operators in the Internet field is lower than that of physical enterprises. It is recommended that the "Guidelines" be more popular and operable, and can guide ordinary network operators to first clearly understand what to do, and then become familiar with why they do it and what they are based on.
Zhang Jinjing, market inspection specialist of the Special Food Department of the State Administration for Market Regulation, made a concluding speech. He first expressed his gratitude to the experts and industry representatives for their insights. Regarding the formulation of the "Guidelines", he pointed out that first of all, the bottom line of the "Guidelines" is to fully implement the requirements of the "Food Safety Law" in the online business format. It is hoped that through the introduction of the "Guidelines", relevant legal provisions will be refined, enhance operability, and truly promote the implementation of the current legal requirements for operators' food safety in the field of online sales. Secondly, we must fully consider the characteristics of special foods, focus on improving labeling, and effectively protect consumers’ rights to know and choose. In addition, for some prominent issues of food safety in online sales, such as illegal additions, solutions must be proposed from both a professional and technical perspective and from a legal perspective. Finally, he said that there are still many new problems that have not been solved in the online sales of special food. It is very meaningful for all walks of life to participate in discussions to deepen understanding and build consensus. He hopes that the Institute of Market Supervision and the experts of the University of w88 and Economic Cooperation will continue to pay attention and support, jointly promote the improvement of the "Guide" and relevant laws and regulations, and make more efforts to ensure the safety of special food.
The seminar ended successfully with warm applause.
