Handling reports of "cucumber shooting" requires a balance between circumstances and law

Zhang Chunyi

Recently, a document released by the Zhuzhou Catering Industry Association in Hunan Province shows that a number of catering companies in the city have reported to the association that some people have taken advantage of the fact that some catering companies sell cold dishes such as "pat cucumbers" without a cold food production and sales license, and demand high compensation from catering enterprises through frequent reports, 2020 times since 49. The reported restaurant companies believed that the relevant reports were "malicious reports" and jointly reflected. (Daily Worker, May 5)

The Measures for the Administration of Food Business Licensing stipulate that the food and drug administration department shall implement classified licenses for food business according to the main business format and the risk degree of the business project, of which the food business items are divided into pre-packaged food sales, hot food production and sales, cold food production and sales, etc. If catering enterprises want to operate cold vegetable products, they must apply for a cold food production and sales license, otherwise it is an over-scope operation.

However, in the catering market, some small restaurants have not applied for cold food licenses, in addition to some operators do not understand the legal provisions, the cold food license conditions are too high is also one of the main reasons. According to the regulations, if catering enterprises want to apply for cold food licenses, they need an independent space of not less than 5 square meters, with secondary changing disinfection facilities, air disinfection equipment and independent air conditioning, and the cost of one set is tens of thousands of yuan, which is difficult for many small-scale catering establishments to bear. Some restaurants take chances and deal in cold vegetable products without obtaining a permit.

In recent years, some professional counterfeiters have targeted illegal loopholes in restaurants producing and selling cold dishes such as "patting cucumbers", and it is not uncommon for restaurants to be reported and punished. Legally speaking, if a cold dish such as "patting cucumbers" is reported and punished without obtaining a business qualification, the operator is not wronged. However, there is also reason beyond jurisprudence. From another point of view, the relevant licensing threshold is too high, and some restaurants are difficult to bear the high cost, and choose to produce and sell "cucumbers" without a license based on the consideration of seeking benefits and avoiding harm. The "suffering" of this reality should be carefully analyzed and rationally considered.

It is worth noting that some local regulators have introduced fault tolerance mechanisms on this issue. In July 2021, a professional counterfeiter reported that 7 merchants in Anqiu City, Shandong Province had not obtained a license to operate cold food, and illegally operated cold food beyond the scope. After investigation, the local market supervision department found that the illegal acts of the 16 merchants involved were minor and corrected in a timely manner without causing harmful consequences, and made a decision not to file the case. This time, the Center for Optimizing the Business Environment of Zhuzhou City, Hunan Province, held a coordination meeting for the collective response of catering enterprises to "malicious reporting", and reached a consensus that the market supervision department should learn from and explore the specific measures of supervision services of "first violation exemption from punishment" and create a first-class business environment.

The first violation without punishment and minor exemption reflect the soft law enforcement of the relevant departments, which makes restaurants that encounter professional counterfeiting breathe a sigh of relief. In the long run, reforming food business licenses and loosening the burden on food operators has become the trend of the times.

In August 2021, the Gansu Provincial Market Supervision Bureau issued the Notice on Further Promoting the Reform of Food Business Licensing in the Province, clarifying that "only processing and making plant-based cold food, simple processing of prepackaged food, fruit platter production, hot food with sauce marinated meat as semi-finished raw materials in a special operation area, or selling cold sauce marinated meat, the food business license does not need to specify 'cold food production and sales'". This approach lowers the entry threshold in the field of food business, helps to solve the embarrassment of unlicensed production and sale of "patting cucumbers", and is worth learning from everywhere.

Of course, lowering the threshold is not the same as relaxing regulation. While canceling the pre-license, the relevant departments should strengthen the daily supervision of catering enterprises, supervise the strict standardization of operations, and effectively prevent food safety risks. (Source: Beijing Youth Daily)