Xinhua News Agency, Shanghai, March 26 (Reporter Cheng Siqi) After sorting and packaging, an ordinary cabbage can be sold at a price of 77.9 yuan.
As the epidemic prevention and control work in Shanghai entered a critical moment, some businesses took the opportunity to raise the prices of daily necessities such as meat, eggs, milk, fruits and vegetables.
On the 26th, Shanghai Takashimaya Department Store Co., Ltd. was fined 500,000 yuan by the Shanghai Municipal Bureau of Market Supervision for violating the law of price gouging.
Recently, some netizens reported that the prices of vegetables sold by Shanghai Takashimaya Department Store Co., Ltd. were "too exaggerated".
The reporter saw from the photos posted by netizens that in Shanghai Takashimaya Department Store, a Chinese cabbage with a packaging date of March 24 sold for 77.9 yuan (unit price is 32 yuan/kg), and a packaged date of 3 On the 24th, the price of cabbage was also as high as 78.1 yuan (unit price was 36 yuan/kg).
In response to the above situation, the Shanghai Municipal Market Supervision Bureau quickly launched an investigation.
After investigation, since September 2020, Wang Mou signed a joint sales contract with Takashimaya Department Store in the name of Shanghai Nongkang Vegetable Professional Cooperative, and set up "Xu" in the "Mercato Fresco Fresh Market" operated by Takashimaya Department Store. "Jing Nongkang" counters sell vegetables and other products.
After sorting and packaging ordinary vegetables purchased from farmers' markets and fresh food stores, Wang will publicize "a large farm near you, 25 minutes away by car", "self-produced and self-sold family farms, picking experience and breeding" Activities include "home delivery" and "Nongkang self-produced direct-sale vegetables", and the "Xujing Nongkang" logo is used on the packaging of some vegetables and other products.
Ordinary vegetables have turned into high-quality vegetables, which are sold at high prices with the positioning of high-quality products.
Takashimaya Department Store did not review the above.
In addition, the market supervision staff also found that since February 14, 2022, Takashimaya Department Store has successively sold the Philippe Barry extra-primary olive oil, Eight products including Xiaochuan Inaniwa Handmade Plain Noodles, North Shore F Frozen Lobster Fish Balls, Horie Inaniwa Handmade Udon Noodles and other 8 products were launched. The so-called "original price" marked on the on-site price tag are fictitious.
The relevant actions of Wang and Takashimaya Department Store are suspected of violating the relevant provisions of the "Price Law of the People's Republic of China", which constitutes an illegal act of price gouging.
On March 26, the Shanghai Municipal Bureau of Market Supervision issued a notice of administrative penalty hearing in accordance with relevant laws and regulations, and imposed a maximum penalty of 100,000 yuan on Wang and 500,000 yuan on Takashimaya Department Store.
Since Shanghai is at the most strenuous time of epidemic prevention and control, some citizens have a strong demand for purchasing a large amount of daily necessities in a short period of time.
Some of the living materials sold in the market experienced a slight price increase due to factors such as transportation costs and time costs. Some unscrupulous merchants took the opportunity to raise prices on the ground, raising the prices of living materials such as meat, eggs and milk, disrupting the normal market order.
In order to ensure the normal market supply of basic livelihood commodities such as grain, oil, meat, eggs, vegetables, milk, and epidemic prevention supplies such as masks and disinfectants during the epidemic prevention and control period, on the 25th, Shanghai issued the "Guiding Opinions on Determining Illegal Behaviors of Price Gouging During the Epidemic Prevention and Control Period". Relevant departments will impose corresponding administrative penalties if the perpetrators fabricate, spread price increase information, substantially increase prices and other behaviors to drive up prices.
At the same time, the Shanghai market supervision department has recently continued to strengthen the price supervision of important livelihood commodities and anti-epidemic products, focusing on wholesale markets, bazaars, supermarkets, and temporary vegetable sales points as key areas, and online operators as key targets. The strength of large-scale price inspections, policy publicity, and reminders and warnings, and strictly investigate illegal activities such as price gouging, collusion to increase prices, and false discounts.
According to statistics, as of March 24, Shanghai had inspected 21,000 related units and issued 17,000 warning letters.
Law enforcement officers have warned on the spot and urged operators to make rectifications on issues such as non-standard pricing clearly stated by some operators, and 7 cases of suspected price violations have been filed.