"Oli Cantonese Biscuits" and "Taibai Rabbit Toffee" are mixed into the Spring Festival gift list
Rural Shanzhai Food Survey
□ Our reporter Zhao Li
There was a box of snacks on the table, including "Little White Rabbit Toffee", "Omio Biscuits", etc. The enthusiastic relatives grabbed a handful and stuffed them into Yuan Chengcheng's hands; before leaving, the relatives took out another box of "Six Zhen Walnuts" "As a gift in return... This is what Yuan Chengcheng, who was working in Beijing during the Spring Festival this year, returned to his hometown in Hunan and encountered a scene when he visited relatives and friends.
This is not the first time Yuan Chengcheng encountered such counterfeit food.
It is a traditional custom in my country to buy gifts and visit relatives and friends during the Spring Festival. However, in some rural areas, it is not uncommon for some businesses to counterfeit famous brands, produce and sell counterfeit gifts and "three noes" products.
It not only disturbs the market order and damages the rights and interests of consumers, but also compromises the mind.
Li Bin, a member of the lawyer team of the China Consumers Association and a lawyer of Beijing Zhongwen Law Firm, said in an interview with a reporter from the "Rule of Law Daily" recently that rural consumers themselves are not strong enough to identify fakes. Consumers' awareness and ability to protect their rights are relatively weak, resulting in the long-term existence of counterfeit food in rural areas, especially during holidays, and it is urgent to strengthen rectification.
"4 boxes of gifts and 3 boxes of fakes!" On January 25 this year, a lady from Chongqing posted a video claiming that she received "six stone mills", "healthy walnuts" and "new six pure walnuts" during the Chinese New Year. 3 boxes of the 4 gifts were fake. goods.
As soon as the video came out, it immediately resonated with the majority of netizens, who said they had bought "six iron walnuts", "Kang Shuaifu", "Oli Cantonese biscuits" and so on during the Spring Festival.
According to public reports, during the Spring Festival, in various places, especially in rural markets, there are not only counterfeit food, but also counterfeit tobacco and alcohol.
To this end, the relevant departments have adopted many rectification measures, which have achieved certain results, but have not fundamentally solved the problem.
According to Chen Yinjiang, Deputy Secretary-General of the Consumer Rights Protection Law Research Institute of the China Law Society, counterfeit gifts are rampant in the rural market, which not only reflects the lack of consumer brand awareness, they will choose to buy counterfeit food because of its low price, but also shows that the main body of responsibility is the law. Apathy.
The rural area is vast, and the commercial and supermarket outlets are scattered, which brings certain difficulties to the supervision and rectification work.
Yuan Chengcheng has a deep understanding of this.
He found that many relatives either "don't care" or "don't know" about counterfeit food.
Taking the brand "Six Walnuts" as an example, Yuan Chengcheng has come into contact with at least four counterfeit variants: "Six Earth Walnuts", "Six Nuclear Bombs", "Six Pure Walnuts" and "Six Zhen Walnuts".
"Compared with the 'six walnuts', the packaging of these counterfeit products is almost the same in color, font, and pattern except for multiple characters or a different word." Yuan Chengcheng complained, and some relatives even told him, "This belongs to the 'six walnuts'. The upgraded version of "Walnut" tastes better", and some elderly people have never noticed any abnormalities in it, and always think that they drink "six walnuts" at home.
The reason why all kinds of counterfeit gifts are rampant lies in the "smart" "stealing" methods of the manufacturers.
"Take 'Yunbi' drink as an example. The size, color and outer packaging of the bottle are exactly the same as 'Sprite'. It took two mouthfuls to feel something strange.
Chen Yinjiang told reporters that there are many middle-aged and elderly residents in rural areas, and the main types of food they consume are unprocessed foods such as melons, fruits, and grains.
Researchers from Tianjin University of Commerce conducted a questionnaire survey on 307 rural consumers and found that in a mixed consumer market, rural consumers are not strong enough to distinguish counterfeit food, and their vigilance is low, and 50% of consumers are guilty of "imitation". 26.6% of consumers bought counterfeit food because of “low price”.
Although the deployment of rural e-commerce and chain supermarkets has accelerated in recent years, there are still a large number of small supermarkets and kiosks in some remote areas. Due to their relatively low prices, their consumer groups cover a wide range.
In order to reduce costs, some non-standard small supermarkets often cooperate with black workshops and three-no manufacturers, and have been free from supervision for a long time.
Liu Ting, who works in Anhui, found in some canteens when she returned to her hometown during the Spring Festival this year that the "Yinyuan Babao Porridge", "Dingwang Snow Cake", "Taibai Rabbit Toffee", "Six Legendary Walnuts" were prominently placed... ... In this regard, Liu Ting also specifically asked the owner of the canteen, and the reply was "I have sold it for a year or two, and there have been no problems. The villagers like it, and the market is good. I have never seen anyone who returns it. You guys There are many things to come back from working outside.”
"A normal brand needs to be recognized by consumers through product quality and good after-sales service, but counterfeit food does not need to be involved in the process of brand management, and can directly profit. If consumers do not defend their rights and think they are unlucky, they also condone These merchants. It is difficult to guarantee the quality and after-sales service of such products.” Chen Yinjiang said that this kind of phenomenon has been repeatedly banned. In addition to the difficulty of supervision, most of these merchants are small in scale, and they can change places with one shot.
"A lot of counterfeit foods are sold during the rural market. They are mainly small itinerant vendors. They are sold at one time. After they are sold, they will be transferred to another town. It is basically impossible to return the products if they find something wrong." Yuan Chengcheng said.
During the interview, many consumers also mentioned to the reporter that at present, the "food traceability code" has begun to be popularized in many places across the country.
The reason why counterfeit and shoddy goods are so popular is that the origin is unknown. It is difficult to find the responsible party when there is a problem.
"Food safety is directly related to the life, health and safety of consumers, so the Food Safety Law defines four 'most stringent'. This also requires that food must have a traceability code, so as to ensure that if there is a problem, the source and the scope of the hazard can be found as soon as possible , involving regions and consumers, this is a measure to protect the rights and interests of consumers.” Chen Yinjiang said, but in some rural areas, the coverage of supervision is not wide enough, the frequency of inspections is not high enough, and the self-protection of rural consumers Awareness and legal awareness are relatively weak, which provides an opportunity for unscrupulous merchants.
For this reason, Chen Yinjiang suggested that, on the one hand, increase the intensity of supervision and inspection of daily supervision and the intensity of administrative punishment, and let unscrupulous businesses bear the cost of breaking the law, so as to form a strong deterrent.
In particular, it is necessary to strengthen supervision and inspection for key places such as farmers' markets in rural areas.
"On the other hand, strengthen the publicity of lawful and honest management, so that businesses can actively provide consumers with quality products and high-quality services. Consumers should also raise their awareness of self-protection and understand the dangers of counterfeit or three-no products. If they are misled To purchase, you must collect relevant evidence in a timely manner, and file a complaint with the relevant administrative department.” Chen Yinjiang said.
"In terms of establishing a regulatory system, rural areas can speed up the establishment of a food regulatory system including centralized collection, traceability, and tracking systems. For all commodities flowing into the rural market, a traceability mechanism should be established as soon as possible to clarify production and distribution responsibilities. Standardized operations play an effective restraint role." Li Bin suggested that efforts should be made to achieve joint management and social governance. Make effective use of village rules and regulations, etc., to increase constraints on villagers' production and business activities.
At the end of 2022, the Supreme People's Court issued the "Opinions on Providing Judicial Services and Guarantees for Promoting Consumption."
"The purpose is to give full play to the function of the judiciary in promoting consumption and guaranteeing services, strictly implement the 'four most stringent' requirements, give full play to the judicial function, and crack down on the counterfeiting involved in the entire chain of food and drug production, transportation, storage, and sales. Severely crack down on the sale of counterfeit goods to ensure the people's safety on the tip of the tongue and safety on the tip of the needle." Li Bin said.