1, which seriously affects the health of some children who use Sanlu milk powder.
2. China milk powder industry reshuffled.
3. Enable China to purchase milk powder milk sources from retail investors to large households or from independent centralized and unified milk sources.
4. Chinese people's crisis of confidence in domestic milk powder.
5. It led to the upsurge of Chinese people buying foreign milk powder, but the low tide of China milk powder market even affected the domestic economy.
6. Make the state pay attention to people's safety, and pay more attention to improving relevant laws.
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Details of Sanlu milk powder incident:
On September 1 1, 2008, Shijiazhuang Sanlu Group Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as Sanlu Company) issued a statement. After self-examination, it was found that some batches of Sanlu infant milk powder were contaminated with melamine, and there were about 700 tons on the market. The company decided to immediately recall all Sanlu infant milk powder produced before August 6, 2008. On the same day, the Health Department of Gansu Province held a press conference to inform the media for the first time about the investigation of the causes of urinary calculi in some infants. At present, 59 cases have been reported in this province, with death 1 person, most of whom are children in rural areas. In addition, medical institutions in Jiangsu, Shaanxi, Hubei and other places have also treated a number of infants with urinary calculi. All babies are breast-feeding and have taken or are still taking the same brand of milk powder. The relevant state departments are stepping up their investigation into the cause of the incident, and the Sanlu milk powder incident is undoubtedly a public health incident with great influence. If the final investigation results prove that Sanlu milk powder product is the cause of urinary calculi in infants, Sanlu Company will bear huge legal responsibility. As a lawyer who has handled many similar cases, the author analyzes the legal issues involved in Sanlu milk powder incident to help all sectors of society examine the incident from a legal perspective. ?
First, the legal responsibility of Sanlu Company?
Article 6 of the Food Hygiene Law of People's Republic of China (PRC) stipulates that "food should be non-toxic and harmless, meet the nutritional requirements, and have corresponding sensory properties such as color, fragrance and taste." ?
Article 7 stipulates that "the main and supplementary foods for infants and young children must conform to the nutrition and hygiene standards formulated by the health administrative department of the State Council. (4) The equipment layout and technological process are reasonable. Prevent cross-contamination between foods to be processed and foods, raw materials and finished products that directly contact people, and foods must not contact toxic and unclean substances; " ?
Article 9 stipulates that "the production and marketing of the following foods are prohibited: (2) containing or contaminated with toxic and harmful substances, which may be harmful to human health; (8) Processing non-food raw materials, adding non-food chemicals or treating non-food as food; " ?
Some batches of infant milk powder in Sanlu Company were contaminated by melamine, probably because the production process did not meet the hygiene standards set by the Ministry of Health, which made the milk powder contaminated by toxic substances. Melamine molecules contain a lot of nitrogen, which can improve the protein detection value in food when added to it. As a chemical raw material, melamine cannot be added to food at all. If it is added, it will seriously violate the Food Hygiene Law and should be severely punished by the health administrative department. ?
Article 26 of the Product Quality Law of People's Republic of China (PRC) stipulates that "producers shall be responsible for the quality of the products they produce. The quality of products shall meet the following requirements: (1) There is no unreasonable danger endangering personal and property safety, and if there are national standards and industry standards to protect human health and personal and property safety, the standards shall be met; " ?
Article 49 stipulates that "those who produce and sell products that do not meet the national standards and industry standards for protecting human health and personal and property safety shall be ordered to stop production and sales, the products illegally produced and sold shall be confiscated, and the products illegally produced and sold (including sold and unsold products, the same below) shall be fined less than three times the value; Illegal income, confiscate the illegal income; If the circumstances are serious, the business license shall be revoked; If it constitutes a crime, criminal responsibility shall be investigated according to law. " ?
Sanlu's milk powder products obviously do not meet the national industry standards for protecting human health, and there are unreasonable dangers that seriously endanger human health. According to the law, Sanlu Company should be punished by the administrative department of quality supervision. ?
Article 143 of the Criminal Law of People's Republic of China (PRC) stipulates that "whoever produces or sells food that does not meet the hygiene standards enough to cause serious food poisoning accidents or other serious food-borne diseases shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not more than three years or criminal detention, and shall also be fined not less than 50% but not more than two times the sales amount; Whoever causes serious harm to human health shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not less than three years but not more than seven years, and shall also be fined not less than 50% but not more than two times the sales amount; If the consequences are particularly serious, they shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not less than seven years or life imprisonment, and shall also be fined not less than 50% but not more than two times the sales amount, or their property shall be confiscated. " ?
Article 144 stipulates that "whoever adulterates toxic and harmful non-food raw materials in food produced or sold, or sells food that is knowingly adulterated with toxic and harmful non-food raw materials, shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not more than five years or criminal detention, and shall also, or shall only, be fined not less than 50% but not more than two times the sales amount;" Whoever causes serious food poisoning accidents or other serious food-borne diseases and causes serious harm to human health shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not less than five years but not more than ten years, and shall also be fined not less than 50% but not more than two times the sales amount; Whoever causes death or especially serious harm to human health shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not less than 10 years, life imprisonment or death, and shall also be fined not less than 50% but not more than 2 times the sales amount or confiscated property. " ?
Article 150 stipulates that "if a unit commits the crimes specified in Articles 140 to 148 of this section, it shall be fined, and the directly responsible person in charge and other directly responsible personnel shall be punished in accordance with the provisions of each article of this section." ?
According to Sanlu's statement, there are about 700 tons of Sanlu infant milk powder contaminated with melamine on the market. According to relevant media reports, there are 59 cases of urinary calculi in infants in Gansu Province, including death 1 case. Medical institutions in Jiangsu, Shaanxi, Hubei and other places have also treated many cases of urinary calculi in infants. It can be said that the amount of milk powder involved is amazing, affecting the whole country and the consequences are very serious. If the investigation proves that Sanlu intentionally added toxic melamine to milk powder, according to the provisions of the criminal law, the person in charge directly responsible for Sanlu and other relevant responsible personnel will bear criminal responsibility, and the maximum penalty is death, and Sanlu will also be severely punished. ?
Second, the victim's judicial relief?
Article 11 of the Law on the Protection of Consumers' Rights and Interests in People's Republic of China (PRC) stipulates that "consumers who suffer personal or property damage due to purchasing or using commodities or receiving services shall have the right to receive compensation according to law." ?
Article 35 stipulates that "consumers or other victims may claim compensation from sellers or producers for personal or property damage caused by commodity defects. If it belongs to the producer's responsibility, the seller has the right to recover from the producer after compensation. " ?
Article 41 stipulates that "if a business operator provides goods or services, causing personal injury to consumers or other victims, it shall pay medical expenses, nursing expenses during treatment, reduced income due to absenteeism and other expenses. If it causes disability, it shall also pay self-help fees, living allowances, disability compensation and necessary living expenses for the disabled. " Article 42 stipulates that "if a business operator provides goods or services and causes the death of consumers or other victims, it shall pay funeral expenses, death compensation and the necessary living expenses of the dependents of the deceased before his death." ?
Article 43 of the Product Quality Law of People's Republic of China (PRC) stipulates that "if a product is defective and causes personal or property damage to others, the victim may claim compensation from the producer or seller of the product. If it is the responsibility of the product producer and the product seller compensates, the product seller has the right to recover from the product producer. " ?
Article 44 stipulates that "if a product defect causes personal injury to the victim, the infringer shall compensate for medical expenses, nursing expenses during treatment, income reduced due to missed work, etc." If it causes disability, it shall also pay the disabled person's self-help fee, living allowance, disability compensation and the necessary living expenses of his dependents; If the victim dies, he shall also pay funeral expenses, death compensation and the living expenses necessary for the dependents of the deceased. " ?
Sanlu milk powder products have caused a large number of infants to suffer from urolithiasis, which has seriously damaged their health. According to the above-mentioned legal provisions, victims are entitled to financial compensation. Victims and their families can get compensation items including medical expenses, nursing expenses, lost time and so on; Causing disability, including living allowance and disability compensation; Causing death, including funeral expenses and death compensation; If mental damage is caused, you can also ask for mental consolation money according to the provisions of the Interpretation of the Supreme People's Court on Several Issues Concerning Determining the Liability for Compensation for Mental Damage in Civil Tort. The victim can choose Sanlu Company as the infringer, or choose the seller of Sanlu milk powder involved as the infringer, depending on the actual situation such as litigation cost, litigation convenience and compensation ability. ?
Three. Responsibilities of the staff of the relevant national regulatory agencies?
Article 397 of the Criminal Law of People's Republic of China (PRC) stipulates that "any functionary of a state organ who abuses his power or neglects his duty, thus causing heavy losses to public property and the interests of the state and the people, shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not more than three years or criminal detention; If the circumstances are especially serious, they shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not less than three years but not more than seven years. Where there are other provisions in this Law, such provisions shall prevail. Any functionary of a state organ who engages in malpractices for personal gain and commits the crime mentioned in the preceding paragraph shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not more than five years or criminal detention; If the circumstances are especially serious, they shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not less than five years but not more than ten years. Where there are other provisions in this Law, such provisions shall prevail. " ?
If it is verified that there are indeed national staff (including but not limited to health, quality inspection, industry and commerce, food and drug supervision and other departments) who fail to perform their supervisory duties or deliberately conceal accidents from reporting, resulting in an expansion of the affected area and a large number of victims, which will cause serious consequences, it will constitute a crime of dereliction of duty, and the relevant staff can be investigated for criminal responsibility according to the above-mentioned legal provisions.
Resources Baidu Encyclopedia: China dairy pollution incident, Sanlu milk powder