Wenling, Zhejiang: Lighter punishment gives administrative law enforcement a "temperature"

"Considering that you are breaking the law for the first time, and you have signed the "Voluntary Pledge to Accept Punishment" and actively corrected it, we can lighten the punishment
.
" Recently, the Market Supervision Bureau of Wenling City, Taizhou City, Zhejiang Province issued an administrative penalty decision on a lighter punishment
.

In June this year, the Wenling Municipal Market Supervision Bureau found that tofu produced by a small soybean product workshop in its jurisdiction was added with sodium benzoate, which was judged to be unqualified
after testing.
Law enforcement officials said that sodium benzoate is a food additive, which can be added in moderate amounts in some food processing, and its main role is anticorrosion, but according to the "National Food Safety Standard Food Additive Use Standard" (GB2760-2014), it must not be added
to tofu.

"This summer, the weather is hot, and tofu is not easy to preserve after production, it is easy to spoil and produce peculiar smell, which is not easy to sell
.
" The parties told law enforcement officers that in order to make tofu better preserved, they thought of adding preservatives
.

According to the facts of the case and the relevant administrative punishment discretionary provisions, a fine of between 5,100 and 7,900 yuan should have been imposed (neither of which is the principal amount).

However, during the investigation of the case, the law enforcement officers found that the parties were poor, the husband and wife were old and infirm, and the production and sale of tofu was their only livelihood, and actively cooperated with the investigation, truthfully stated the facts of the violation, and expressed their admission of mistakes and punishment
.
It happened that the "Implementation Measures for the System of "Accepting Punishment and Choosing Light" in the Field of Market Supervision in Taizhou City issued by the Taizhou Municipal Market Supervision Bureau came into effect on September 18, 2022, and the parties signed the "Voluntary Letter of Commitment to Accept Punishment"
as soon as possible.
In accordance with the provisions of Article 6, paragraph 1 (1) of the Measures, law enforcement personnel made discretionary administrative punishments and imposed a fine of 4,400 yuan and confiscation of unlawful gains of 40 yuan.

In line with the principle of combining punishment and education, law enforcement personnel require parties to carefully study the training videos of small food workshops, complete the final examination, effectively improve their overall quality, and do a good job in food safety production
.

"Accepting punishment lightly can not only guide and educate parties to actively cooperate with the investigation, reflect the scale and temperature of law enforcement, but also play a positive role
in improving the efficiency of law enforcement, resolving administrative disputes, and optimizing the business environment based on the rule of law.
" The relevant person in charge of the Wenling Market Supervision Bureau said
.

(Ding Lingdong)

China Food News(November 15, 2022, Version 03)

(Responsible editor: Wang Ning).