英语新闻丨卖5斤芹菜被罚6.6万元？国务院督查组：处罚过当

卖5斤芹菜被罚6.6万元？国务院督查组：处罚过当

Experts have called for standardized law enforcement following news that a small grocery store in Yulin, Shaanxi province, was fined 66,000 yuan ($9,600) by local authorities for selling 2.5 kilograms of substandard celery worth 20 yuan.

近日国务院督查组接到群众在“国务院互联网+督查平台”反映，陕西榆林的一家个体户卖了5斤芹菜后，被市场监管部门罚了6.6万元，督查组对此展开调查走访。

The case has resulted in a widespread backlash and ridicule on social media. It became one of the trending topics on Sina Weibo on Sunday and has been viewed more than 200 million times, with netizens lamenting that the punishment was too harsh and unreasonable.

这起案件在社交媒体上引起轰动。8月28日，该事件成为微博上的热门话题之一，点击量已超过2亿次，网友们纷纷感叹这一处罚过于严厉。

According to a report by China Central Television over the weekend, a small grocery store bought 3.5 kg of celery from a wholesale market which it then put on sale. When the market regulator visited the shop, it took 1 kg for inspection.

据央视报道，罗某夫妇经营一家蔬菜粮油店，去年十月的一天，他们购进7斤芹菜。当地市场监管部门提取2斤进行抽样检查。

A month later, the shop received a report from the regulator saying the celery was not up to standards. During that time, the remaining 2.5 kilograms had been sold to customers for 20 yuan.

一个月后，他们接到检验报告，说这批芹菜检验不合格。涉案的7斤芹菜中，除2斤用于抽样检查，剩余的5斤，夫妇俩已经以每斤4元价格售出。

According to the Food Safety Law, a producer or seller of food priced at less than 10,000 yuan and that contains harmful materials or additives can be fined between 50,000 and 100,000 yuan.

根据《食品安全法》，价格在1万元以下且含有有害物质或添加剂的食品的生产者或销售者将被处以5万元以上10万元以下的罚款。

Local authorities decided to fine the shop 66,000 yuan. The shop was unable to provide thereceiptfrom the wholesaler and could not prove where it had bought the celery from.

处罚决定书认定，罗某夫妇不能提供供货方许可证明及票据，不能如实说明进货来源，违反了食品安全法相关规定，对其做出6.6万元的处罚。

The case is being looked into by an inspection team sent by the State Council, China's Cabinet.

It has dispatched 19 inspection teams across the country torectifyproblems in auditing and supervision work related to food and energy security.

国务院派出的检查小组对此案进行调查，并向全国派出19个督察组，对食品能源安全的审计监督工作中存在的问题进行调查。

Chen Xiao, an inspector on the team, said law enforcement authorities should not only focus on the letter of the law.

While ensuring order, market regulation authorities should also create afavorablebusiness environment for market entities and small and micro businesses, he said.

国务院第九次大督查第十六督察组成员陈晓表示，执法不能只讲力度，市场监管部门在维护好市场秩序的同时，也要为小微主体的生存创造良好的环境。

The inspectors found that 21 of more than 50 cases involving small and micro businesses had resulted in fines of more than 50,000 yuan from the Yulin administration for market regulation last year, yet the cases only involved small amounts of up to several hundred yuan.

查阅榆林市市场监管局2021年以来食品类行政处罚台账发现，针对小微市场主体的五十多起处罚中，罚款超过五万元的就有二十一起，而他们的案值只有几十或几百元。

Yan Yandong, deputy director of the Yulin administration for market regulation, admitted that the punishments were too harsh and the administration will instead focus on educating andcensuringviolators to ensure theycomply with laws and regulations.

榆林市市场监督管理局副局长延艳东表示，此次处罚不当，政府应该把重点放在对违规者批评教育上，确保他们遵守法律法规。

Wang Qingbin, a law professor and director of the Food and Drug Law Research Center at the China University of Political Science and Law, said that the current Food Safety Law amendment, which came into effect in 2015, had raised the fines for food safety violations considerably to prevent incidents.

中国政法大学食品药品法研究中心主任、法学教授王青斌表示，2015年生效的现行《食品安全法》修正案大大提高了对违反食品安全规定的罚款，以杜绝食品安全问题。

In practice, the law has given local authorities too much room to decide the appropriate punishment for individual cases, he said.

但在实践中，法律给地方当局处理案件留下太多空间。

As a result, in cases that do not cause much harm and involve little money, some local authorities decide to levy no fines, while others impose heavy fines citing the law, he said, adding that they have overlooked the Administration Penalty Law amendment that came into effect last year, which stipulates that first-time offenders with little impact can be exempt from administrative penalty.

这导致的结果是，在一些危害较小、涉及金额较少的的案件中，一些地方当局不征收罚款，而另一些地方当局则援引法律处以重罚。王青斌补充说，他们忽视了去年生效的《行政处罚法（修正草案）》，该修正案规定，初次违法且危害后果轻微并及时改正的，可以不予处罚。

Wang added that the Food Safety Law requires revision to conform to difficulties in implementation.

王青斌补充说，《食品安全法》需要修订以应对实际实施过程中的困难。

Liu Junhai, a law professor at Renmin University of China, said the revised Administration Penalty Law underscores the principle of combining penalties with education, and imposing administrative penalties based on facts and the social impact of incidents.

中国人民大学法学教授刘俊海表示，修改后的《行政处罚法》强调处罚与教育相结合的原则，并根据事实和社会影响进行行政处罚。

Some local authorities have paid too much attention to punishment, while overlooking supervision and persuasion before handing out fines, he said.

一些地方政府过于注重处罚，而忽视了罚款前的监督和教育。

Impacted by COVID-19, market entities need more support from the government, and handing out fines won't promote stable economic development or employment, Liu said.

刘俊海表示，受新冠肺炎疫情影响，市场主体需要政府更多的支持，罚款不利于经济发展和就业。

"The purpose of law enforcement and supervision is to promote development and build a stable, fair and transparent business environment," he said. "Authorities should promote the development of the rights of individuals and the competitiveness of enterprises."

“执法和监督的目的是促进发展，建立稳定、公平、透明的营商环境。政府部分应该维护个人权利，提升企业竞争力。”

receipt

英[rɪˈsiːt]美[rɪˈsiːt]

n. 收据; 接收; 收入

censure 

英[ˈsenʃə(r)]美[ˈsenʃər]

vt. 指责；批评

comply with

英[kəmˈplai wið]美[kəmˈplaɪ wɪð]

v. 服从，遵从

favorable

英[ˈfeɪvərəbl]美[ˈfeɪvərəbəl]

adj. 赞成的；有利的，优惠的