The need for imported food supervision on cross-border e-commerce platforms

 

1.
Background and significance

 

In recent years, the improvement of social and economic level has made people pay more and more attention to their own health, and the demand for health food in the Chinese market has also shown a trend of rapid growth
.
However, the development of the domestic health care product industry started late, the product types are not complete, the publicity and sales model is not standardized, there have been problems such as false publicity, random addition of drugs, etc.
, causing consumers to have a crisis of trust in domestic health care products, and more and more Consumers set their sights on foreign markets
.
The Food Safety Law revised in 2018 tightened the control of imported health food.
In order to reduce costs and evade supervision, foreign health food brands have shifted their sales markets from offline to online, that is, selling through cross-border e-commerce platforms.
Health food
.
The sale of imported health food on cross-border e-commerce platforms is currently almost in the blind spot of China’s legal supervision.
In order to regulate the imported health product market and protect the rights and interests of consumers, it is necessary to study the supervision of the sale of imported health food on cross-border platforms
.

 

2.
Current status of cross-border e-commerce sales of imported health food

 

(1) The definition of health food.
According to the Regulations for the Administration of Health Food Registration and Filing, health food refers to foods that claim to have specific health functions or supplement vitamins and minerals, that is, they are suitable for specific groups of people and have the ability to regulate the body.
Function, food that is not aimed at curing diseases and does not cause any acute, subacute or chronic harm to the human body
.
Imported health food refers to health food imported from other countries or regions into the country
.
Health foods are special foods.
They are different from general foods because they have specific health functions and are only suitable for specific people.
They are also different from medicines because they are not aimed at curing diseases
.

 

(2) The current situation of cross-border e-commerce sales of health food products The "China Internet + Health Products Industry Market Outlook and Marketing Model Innovation Analysis Report" released by the Foresight Industry Research Institute shows that with the implementation of the national "Internet +" industrial strategy, online shopping for health care Food has gradually become an important part of health food consumption
.
According to Alibaba's online data, in 2017, the sales of health food on Alibaba's e-commerce for the whole year was 15.
07 billion, ranking second in total online sales, second only to snack food (49.
96 billion)
.
In 2018, the sales of health care products in Ali e-commerce reached 19.
368 billion yuan, of which November was affected by Double Eleven and reached the highest value of 3.
498 billion yuan
.
In 2019, the sales of health care products also continued to rise
.
Chinese consumers' enthusiasm for imported products from abroad is unprecedentedly high
.
According to the "2018 China Cross-border E-commerce Market Data Monitoring Report" released by the National Social Think Tank E-commerce Research Center, the scale of China's cross-border e-commerce transactions in the first half of 2018 was 4.
5 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 25%
.
One of the main product categories that promote the development of China's cross-border e-commerce is health care products
.
At present, overseas sellers mainly sell products from abroad to domestic consumers through large-scale imported cross-border e-commerce platforms such as Tmall Global, Suning Overseas Shopping, JD Global Shopping, Vipshop Global Sale, and Mi Bu Bao
.
Consumers place orders on the platform, and operators deliver goods to consumers through domestic bonded warehouses or overseas direct mail
.
When goods are cleared, although the customs will conduct inspections in accordance with the "Imported Commodity Inspection Law", it is not an inspection on health food safety, nor will it review whether there is an "Imported Health Food Approval Certificate
.
"

 

3.
The need for supervision of cross-border e-commerce sales of imported health food

 

Both online and offline markets are important markets for imported health food sales.
According to the development trend in recent years, the online imported health food market has more sales and greater influence than offline markets
.
However, cross-border e-commerce sales of health food have always been in a vacuum of health food legal supervision.
Regardless of the legislative purpose, jurisdiction, or market guidance, it is very necessary to strengthen the supervision of cross-border e-commerce sales of imported health food.

.

 

(1) From the perspective of the legislative purpose of health care products supervision, the supervision of cross-border e-commerce sales of imported health food will help promote the standardization of the health care product market and more effectively protect consumers' right to life and health
.
At present, the supervision of imported health food is mainly aimed at the offline market, and the online market is basically in a blind spot for supervision
.
Almost all overseas sellers of cross-border e-commerce platforms inform consumers on the product sales page: The product you buy is equivalent to an overseas purchase, and the product itself does not have Chinese labels or instructions; the product you buy meets the quality and hygiene standards of the place of origin , Norms, but there are differences with our country's standards, the resulting risks are borne by consumers
.
According to the "Food Safety Law": Imported food should meet China's national food safety standards
.
Imported pre-packaged food should have Chinese labels; if there should be instructions in accordance with the law, there should also be Chinese instructions
.
It is illegal to sell imported foods without Chinese labels on the Chinese market.
At the same time, the online shop declares that consumers bear the risk of standard differences as exempting their own obligations and excluding consumer rights, and such format clauses should also be invalid
.
China implements a registration or filing system for imported health products, that is, SKU (single product variety) health products imported for the first time must be registered or filed with the food safety supervision department of the State Council in advance, and the "Imported Health Food Approval Certificate" will be issued to them after verification and compliance.
"
.
This system is China's first check on imported health food before entering the Chinese market, and it is an assessment and review of the safety and effectiveness of this health food
.
Its legislative purpose is to protect the health and life safety of consumers
.
If the online imported health food is not supervised, the rights and interests of consumers will be exposed to huge risks, and it will also be difficult to achieve the legislative purpose of promoting the standardization of the health product market and protecting the legitimate rights and interests of consumers
.

 

(2) From the perspective of jurisdiction, it is realistic and feasible to supervise cross-border e-commerce sales of imported health food
.
The supervision of the sale of imported health foods offline (supermarkets, pharmacies, etc.
) is within the jurisdiction of China, regardless of whether it is under the jurisdiction of the subordinates or the territorial jurisdiction
.
That is, after foreign goods enter the Chinese market, they are sold by Chinese distributors, and their trading venues are in the country, and the parties to the transaction are also Chinese legal persons, natural persons or unincorporated organizations
.
Cross-border e-commerce sales of imported health food are different from the traditional international trade model, which is mainly reflected in the virtual cyberspace of the transaction venue and the fact that the transaction subject is overseas
.
However, these differences do not affect the jurisdiction of our country’s laws.
Although the trading venue is in the virtual cyberspace, transactions are completed through the platform.
Foreign commercial entities enter the cross-border e-commerce platform, and consumers communicate with overseas operators on this platform.
Communication, cash payment, and delivery confirmation of goods, etc.
, it can be said that the electronic platform is the place for both parties to trade, and these electronic platforms are enterprises registered in China for industry and commerce, so the trading place is an extension of the traditional international trade trading place, but it still belongs to China Within jurisdiction
.

 

(3) From the perspective of standardizing and guiding the imported health food market, it is necessary and urgent to supervise cross-border e-commerce sales of imported health food
.
With the tightening of imported health food control, the supervision of offline sales of imported health food is becoming more and more stringent
.
According to relevant information, in order to obtain the approval or filing of the national food safety supervision and management department and obtain the health food mark, overseas brands need to pay an average of 500,000 to 1 million yuan for each SKU, and the approval time is as long as 1-2 years
.
Many large companies have tens of thousands of SKUs.
If the size of the single product is not very large, they are not willing to invest time and energy
.
However, China has not yet clarified the nature of cross-border e-commerce sales of health foods that have not been registered or filed.
The supervision of this behavior is still in accordance with the entry clearance inspection of ordinary commodities, and there is no strict supervision in accordance with health foods as special foods
.

 

Fourth, the improvement of imported health food supervision

 

To strengthen the supervision of cross-border e-commerce sales of imported health food, on the one hand, it is necessary to enhance consumers' correct understanding of imported health food, and on the other hand, to strengthen the supervision responsibility of cross-border e-commerce platforms
.
Through multi-channel law dissemination, promote consumers' correct understanding of imported health food and enhance consumers' risk awareness
.
One is to realize that health foods are not medicines and cannot prevent or treat diseases, and cannot replace medicines
.
Second, it is recognized that if foreign health foods are not registered or registered by China’s food safety regulatory authorities, there are potential safety hazards.
The reason is whether they are marketed abroad and whether they have been inspected by relevant foreign institutions.
Other natural conditions are different from our country, even if it meets local standards, it does not mean that it is safe for our consumers
.
The particularity of cross-border e-commerce sales of imported health food lies in the fact that the operators are overseas, and it is difficult to supervise and hold accountable overseas sellers
.
However, there is a contractual relationship between cross-border e-commerce platforms and overseas operators, and overseas operators can be restrained by strengthening the supervision responsibilities of cross-border e-commerce platforms
.
Formulate laws and regulations, before overseas operators enter the platform, cross-border e-commerce platforms should require them to provide a catalog of products on the shelves and an "Imported Health Food Approval Certificate", and they can only sell on the platform after they are reviewed by the platform; after entering the platform, the platform has the right Check whether it is sold in accordance with the law and in accordance with the contract.
If it is found that the sale of unapproved health foods is found, the illegal products can be removed from the shelves or unilaterally terminated according to the contract between the parties
.
The food safety supervision department should require the platform to establish management measures for overseas operators, and at the same time submit relevant materials to the supervision department for record keeping
.
The food regulatory authority shall adopt regular inspections and irregular random inspections to supervise whether the operators of major cross-border e-commerce platforms operate overseas health foods in accordance with the law.
If violations of laws and regulations are found, the platforms shall be punished
.

 

references:

 

[1] Wang Jingnan.
Analysis on the legal issues related to the supervision of online sales of health products［J］.
Legal System and Society, 2018 (9): 178-179.

[2] Li Jianghua, Li Dan.
The status quo of my country's health food legal system and standard system［J］.
Food Science, 2011 (21): 318-323.

[3] Ren Yi.
Dongcheng Court Investigation Report on Cases Involving Health Products Sales Contract Disputes［J］.
Journal of Shanxi University of Finance and Economics, 2013 (1): 103-104.

[4] Gu Yue.
The market for imported health products is mixed, and the strictest food security is purge [J].
China Foods, 2015 (14): 104-105.