Point of View | Sorting out the Highlights of the Revision of "the People's Republic of China Agricultural Products Quality and Safety Law (Revised in 2022)"

This revision has a lot of content, and at the legislative level, it has improved the quality and safety management system of agricultural products, refined the traceability mechanism of agricultural products, added a new system of certification of commitment to standards, improved the supervision and inspection system, and clarified "farmers" as agricultural product producers and operators. The status of the company has clarified the handling methods and punishment standards for "farmers" who violate the law, for the first time, the main person in charge of the competent department "takes the blame and resigns" as the way to deal with the violation of the law by the competent department.

This revision refers to the relevant experience in the supervision and management of agricultural products in the past, combined with the new situation brought about by the sinking and popularization of the Internet and e-commerce as sales channels to the sales and management of agricultural products and the new requirements for the safety and quality of agricultural products under the new situation, it has a very high guiding significance and normative role for the whole process of agricultural product production, sales and management. The lawyers of the firm sorted out the key parts of this revision in order to provide some convenience for agricultural production and operation enterprises and individuals.

Article 2 of the "the People's Republic of China Agricultural Product Quality and Safety Law" before the revision reads "The quality and safety of agricultural products referred to in this law refers to the quality of agricultural products that meet the requirements of safeguarding human health and safety." After this revision, Article 2 is changed to "The quality and safety of agricultural products referred to in this law refers to the quality of agricultural products reachingQuality and safety standards for agricultural products, in line with the protection of human health and safety requirements." With regard to the standards for the quality and safety of agricultural products, Article 5 clearly stipulates that "the competent agricultural and rural authorities and the market supervision and administration departments of the State Council shall, in accordance with the functions and duties prescribed in this Law, supervise and administer the quality and safety of agricultural products. Other relevant departments of the State Council shall, in accordance with the functions and duties prescribed in this Law, undertake the work related to the quality and safety of agricultural products."

After consulting the official website of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs has set up the Agricultural Product Quality and Safety Supervision Department, and the Agricultural Product Quality and Safety Supervision Department has five offices: the General Office, the Standards Office, the Monitoring Office, the Supervision Office, and the Emergency and Evaluation Office. Its main responsibilities are Organize and implement work related to the supervision and management of agricultural product quality and safety. Guide the construction of agricultural product quality and safety supervision system, inspection and testing system and credit system. Undertake agricultural product quality and safety standards, monitoring, traceability, risk assessment and other related work. The Agricultural Product Quality and Safety Supervision Department of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs will publish various agricultural standards, safety and quality standards, and agricultural management measures and other departmental regulations on the official website from time to time. Remind agricultural production and operation enterprises and individuals should always pay attention to the specific information issued by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs and the Department of Agricultural Product Quality and Safety Supervision.

Article 13.The State establishes a risk monitoring system for the quality and safety of agricultural products.

The competent department of agriculture and rural areas under the State Council shall formulate a national agricultural product quality and safety risk monitoring plan, and conduct quality and safety risk monitoring of key regions and key agricultural product varieties. The competent agricultural and rural departments of the people's governments of provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the Central Government shall, in accordance with the national plan for monitoring the quality and safety risks of agricultural products and in the light of the actual production and operation of agricultural products in their respective administrative regions, formulate implementation plans for monitoring the quality and safety risks of agricultural products in their respective administrative regions, and report them to the competent agricultural and rural departments of the State Council for the record. The competent agricultural and rural departments of the local people's governments at or above the county level shall be responsible for organizing and implementing the risk monitoring of the quality and safety of agricultural products within their respective administrative regions.

The market supervision and management department of the people's government at or above the county level and other relevant departments shall immediately verify and notify the agricultural and rural authorities at the same level after learning the information on the quality and safety risks of agricultural products. The competent agricultural and rural authorities that receive the notification shall report it in a timely manner. The department that formulates the agricultural product quality safety risk monitoring plan and implementation plan shall study and analyze in a timely manner, and make adjustments when necessary.

Article 14.The State establishes a risk assessment system for the quality and safety of agricultural products.

The competent department of agriculture and rural areas under the State Council shall establish an expert committee on risk assessment of the quality and safety of agricultural products to conduct risk analysis and assessment of potential hazards that may affect the quality and safety of agricultural products. If the health and market supervision and administration departments of the State Council find it necessary to carry out quality and safety risk assessment of agricultural products, they shall put forward risk assessment suggestions to the competent agricultural and rural departments of the State Council.

The expert committee of agricultural product quality and safety risk assessment is composed of experts in agriculture, food, nutrition, biology, environment, medicine, chemical industry, etc.

This revision is clear.Department in charge of agriculture and rural areas, market supervision and management department of the State CouncilTo supervise and administer the quality and safety of agricultural products in accordance with the duties provided for in this Law. Local people's governments at or above the county level shall, in accordance with this Law and the relevant provisions,Determine the agricultural and rural authorities and market supervision and management departments at the same level.And other relevant departments of agricultural product quality and safety supervision and management responsibilities.

In the text before the revision, it was agreed that the "agricultural products wholesale market" would carry out quality and safety inspection on the agricultural products sold in the market, but the relevant contents were deleted in the new law, and the agricultural and rural management departments of the government at or above the county level were unified.

Article 5.The competent department of agriculture and rural areas and the market supervision and administration department of the State Council shall, in accordance with the duties of this Law and the provisions of this Law, supervise and administer the quality and safety of agricultural products.

ARTICLE VIThe local people's governments at or above the county level shall be responsible for the quality and safety of agricultural products in their respective administrative regions, uniformly lead, organize and coordinate the quality and safety of agricultural products in their respective administrative regions, establish and improve the working mechanism for the quality and safety of agricultural products, and improve the quality and safety of agricultural products.

Local people's governments at or above the county level shall, in accordance with this Law and the relevant provisions, determine the duties of the agricultural and rural competent departments, market supervision and management departments and other relevant departments for the supervision and management of the quality and safety of agricultural products at the same level. All relevant departments shall be responsible for the supervision and administration of the quality and safety of agricultural products within their respective administrative areas.

The township people's government shall implement the responsibility for the supervision and management of the quality and safety of agricultural products, and assist the people's government at a higher level and its relevant departments in the supervision and management of the quality and safety of agricultural products.

This revision stipulates that agricultural product production enterprises and farmers' professional cooperatives shall issue certificates of commitment to meet the standards based on quality and safety control, test results, etc., and promise not to use prohibited pesticides, veterinary drugs and other compounds, and the use of regular pesticides and veterinary drug residues do not exceed the standard. Encourage and support farmers to issue certificates of compliance with commitments when selling agricultural products.

Units or individuals engaged in the purchase of agricultural products shall collect and keep certificates of compliance with commitments or other quality and safety certificates, and for those engaged in the sale of mixed or sub-packaging of purchased agricultural products, a separate certificate of compliance with commitments shall be issued in accordance with regulations.

Article 39Agricultural production enterprises and farmers' professional cooperatives shall implement the provisions of laws and regulations and relevant national mandatory standards to ensure that the agricultural products they sell meet the quality and safety standards of agricultural products, and issue a certificate of commitment to meet the standards according to the quality and safety control and test results, and promise not to use banned pesticides, veterinary drugs and other compounds, and the residues of regular pesticides and veterinary drugs used do not exceed the standard. Encourage and support farmers to issue certificates of compliance with commitments when selling agricultural products. Where laws and administrative regulations have special provisions on the quality and safety certificates of livestock and poultry products, such provisions shall be observed.

Units or individuals engaged in the purchase of agricultural products shall, in accordance with the provisions, collect and keep the certificate of commitment to meet the standards or other quality and safety certificates, and if the purchased agricultural products are mixed or sub-packed and sold, they shall issue the certificate of commitment to meet the standards in accordance with the provisions.

The wholesale market of agricultural products shall establish and improve the system of inspection of the certificate of compliance with the commitment of agricultural products.

The competent departments of agriculture and rural areas of the people's governments at or above the county level shall provide guidance services for the work related to the certificate of compliance and strengthen daily supervision and inspection.

This revision clearly stipulates that the supervision and random inspection plan shall be entrusted to the agricultural product quality and safety inspection agency that meets the conditions specified in this law. This revision is a good thing for institutions engaged in the quality and safety testing of agricultural products.

Article 45The competent agricultural and rural departments and market supervision and management departments of the people's governments at or above the county level shall establish and improve the coordination mechanism for the whole process supervision and management of the quality and safety of agricultural products to ensure the quality and safety of agricultural products from production to consumption.

The competent departments of agriculture and rural areas and the market supervision and administration departments of the people's governments at or above the county level shall strengthen the coordination and law enforcement of the supervision and administration of the quality and safety of agricultural products in the process of acquisition, storage and transportation, timely report and share the supervision and administration information of the quality and safety of agricultural products, and release the daily supervision and administration information on the quality and safety of agricultural products in accordance with their duties and powers.

Article 46.The competent agricultural and rural departments of the people's governments at or above the county level shall, on the basis of the quality and safety risk monitoring of agricultural products, the results of risk assessment and the quality and safety status of agricultural products, formulate a plan for supervision and spot checks, determine the key points, methods and frequency of supervision and spot checks on the quality and safety of agricultural products, and implement the graded management of quality and safety risks of agricultural products.

Article 47The competent agricultural and rural departments of the people's governments at or above the county level shall establish and improve the random inspection mechanism and organize the supervision and inspection of the quality and safety of agricultural products in accordance with the supervision and inspection plan.

Agricultural product quality safety supervision and random inspection shall be entrusted to agricultural product quality safety inspection institutions that meet the conditions specified in this Law. Supervision and spot checks shall not charge fees to the persons subject to spot checks, and the samples taken shall be paid at market prices and shall not exceed the quantity prescribed by the competent department of agriculture and rural areas under the State Council.

The same batch of agricultural products supervised and spot checked by the higher-level agricultural and rural authorities shall not be repeated by the lower-level agricultural and rural authorities.

This revision lists "farmers" separately in the part of Chapter 7 "legal liability", which clarifies the responsibility of farmers for violating the law. This agreement takes into account the actual situation of agricultural production, combined with the current Internet and e-commerce as a sales channel sinking and popularization of the new situation and regulations, in line with the current requirements for the quality and safety management of agricultural products.

Article 70If, in violation of the provisions of this Law, a producer or operator of agricultural products commits one of the following acts, which does not constitute a crime, the competent agricultural and rural authorities of the local people's government at or above the county level shall order him to stop production and operation, recover the agricultural products already sold, carry out harmless treatment or supervise and destroy the agricultural products illegally produced and operated, and confiscate the illegal income, and may also confiscate the tools, equipment, raw materials and other articles used for illegal production and operation; if the value of agricultural products illegally produced and operated is less than 10,000 yuan, a fine of 100,000 yuan to 150,000 yuan shall be imposed, and if the value of the goods is more than 10,000 yuan, a fine of 15 times to 30 times the value of the goods shall be imposed. Farmers, and impose a fine of 1,000 yuan to 10,000 yuan; If the circumstances are serious, the license shall be revoked if there is a license, the public security organ may detain the person in charge and other persons directly responsible for it for not less than five days but not more than 15 days:

(I) the use, in the production and operation of agricultural products, of agricultural inputs or other toxic or harmful substances that are prohibited by the State;

(II) the sale of agricultural products containing pesticides, veterinary drugs or other compounds the use of which is prohibited by the State;

The (III) sells animals and their products that have died of disease, poisoning or unknown causes of death.

Knowing that agricultural product producers and operators are engaged in the illegal acts specified in the preceding paragraph and still provide them with production and business premises or other conditions, the agricultural and rural authorities of the local people's government at or above the county level shall order them to stop the illegal acts, confiscate the illegal income, and impose a penalty of more than 100,000 yuan. Fines below 200,000 yuan; if the legitimate rights and interests of consumers are harmed, they shall be jointly and severally liable with the producers and operators of agricultural products.

Article 71If, in violation of the provisions of this Law, a producer or operator of agricultural products commits one of the following acts, which does not constitute a crime, the competent agricultural and rural authorities of the local people's government at or above the county level shall order him to stop production and operation, recover the agricultural products already sold, carry out harmless treatment or supervise and destroy the agricultural products illegally produced and operated, and confiscate the illegal income, and may also confiscate the tools, equipment, raw materials and other articles used for illegal production and operation; if the value of agricultural products illegally produced and operated is less than 10,000 yuan, a fine of 50,000 yuan to 100,000 yuan shall be imposed, and if the value of the goods is more than 10,000 yuan, a fine of 10 times to 20 times the value of the goods shall be imposed; For farmers, a fine of not less than 500 yuan but not more than 5,000 yuan shall also be imposed:

(I) and sell agricultural products with residues of chemical substances such as pesticides and veterinary drugs or containing toxic and harmful substances such as heavy metals that do not meet the quality and safety standards for agricultural products;

(II) the sale of agricultural products containing pathogenic parasites, microorganisms or biological toxins that do not meet the quality and safety standards for agricultural products;

(III) the sale of other agricultural products that do not meet the quality and safety standards for agricultural products.

Article 72If a producer or operator of agricultural products commits any of the following acts in violation of the provisions of this Law, the competent agricultural and rural authorities of the local people's government at or above the county level shall order the suspension of production and operation, recover the agricultural products already sold, dispose of the agricultural products illegally produced or operated in a harmless way or supervise and destroy them, confiscate the illegal income, and may confiscate the tools, equipment, raw materials and other articles used in illegal production and operation; if the value of agricultural products illegally produced and operated is less than 10,000 yuan, a fine of not less than 5,000 yuan but not more than 50,000 yuan shall be imposed; if the value of the goods is more than 10,000 yuan, a fine of not less than five times but not more than ten times the value of the goods shall be imposed; for farmers, a fine of not less than 300 yuan but not more than 3,000 yuan shall be imposed:

(I) the facilities, equipment, disinfectants, detergents, etc. used in agricultural production sites and production activities do not comply with the relevant national quality safety regulations;

(II) failure to use preservatives, preservatives, additives, packaging materials, etc. in accordance with the relevant mandatory national standards or other quality safety regulations for agricultural products, or use preservatives, preservatives, additives, packaging materials, etc. that do not comply with the relevant mandatory national standards or other quality safety regulations;

(III) store and transport agricultural products together with toxic and harmful substances.

It is a certain legislative innovation to clearly stipulate the "resignation" of the main person in charge of the competent department as the consequence of the violation of the law by the competent department. The "resignation of the top leader" has previously been confirmed in the field of vaccine safety and environmental protection. This revision is also the first time that the "resignation" system of the main person in charge of the competent department has been introduced in the field of agricultural product quality and safety. This arrangement eliminates the management vacuum and dead corners to the greatest extent, is conducive to the implementation of relevant measures for the quality and safety of agricultural products, and promotes relevant responsible personnel to strengthen the guarantee of the quality and safety of agricultural products. it reflects the state's attitude towards the quality and safety management of agricultural products and the determination to maintain food security.

Article 63.If, in violation of the provisions of this law, the agricultural and rural departments of the people's government at or above the county level commit one of the following acts, the person in charge and other persons directly responsible shall be given a serious demerit; if the circumstances are serious, they shall be demoted or dismissed; if the circumstances are serious, they shall be dismissed; if serious consequences are caused, the main person in charge shall also take the blame and resign:

(I) concealing, falsely reporting or postponing the reporting of agricultural product quality safety accidents or concealing, forging or destroying relevant evidence;

(II) failure to investigate and deal with agricultural product quality safety accidents in accordance with regulations, or failure to deal with agricultural product quality safety accident reports in a timely manner, causing the accident to expand or spread;

After the (III) discovers major risks and hidden dangers in the quality and safety of agricultural products, it fails to take corresponding measures in time, resulting in agricultural product quality and safety accidents or adverse social effects;

The (IV) fails to perform the duties of supervision and management of the quality and safety of agricultural products, resulting in the occurrence of agricultural product quality and safety accidents.

Article 65 of this law stipulates the relevant legal liability of the testing institution for "issuing a false test report". The "if the party concerned is damaged due to the error of the test result, it shall be liable for compensation according to law", which shall be understood as the error of the test result of non-subjective malice. However, the subject of compensation stipulated in Article 51 is not clear. If there is a non-subjective and malicious test result error, and the competent authority has imposed penalties or corresponding measures based on the wrong test result, causing losses to the producers and operators of agricultural products, then the liability for compensation Whether the subject is the testing agency or the competent authority, there may be more than one explanation here. Regarding this content, there may be corresponding judicial interpretations or rules in the future to resolve the above ambiguity.

Article 51.If the producers and operators of agricultural products have any objection to the results of the supervision and random inspection, they may, within five working days from the date of receiving the test results, apply to the agricultural and rural competent department that carries out the quality and safety supervision and random inspection of agricultural products or the agricultural and rural competent department at the next higher level for re-inspection. The re-inspection institution and the preliminary inspection institution shall not be the same institution.

The rapid detection method is used to carry out the quality and safety supervision and random inspection of agricultural products. If the person subject to the random inspection has any objection to the test results, he can apply for re inspection within four hours from the time of receiving the test results. Rapid detection methods shall not be used for re-inspection.

The re-inspection institution shall issue a test report within seven working days from the date of receipt of the re-inspection sample.

If the wrong test result causes damage to the party concerned, he shall be liable for compensation according to law.