Spring campaign against counterfeit agricultural supplies: AQSIQ launches the Quality Inspection Sword campaign

The quality of agricultural materials products is directly related to the safety of agricultural production and the vital interests of farmers. In the spring of 2015, quality supervision departments across the country focused on chemical fertilizer products and, with the anti-counterfeiting campaign in rural areas, the "Sword Action" against counterfeit agricultural materials, and the rectification of key agricultural materials areas as the key measures, comprehensively carried out special law enforcement and anti-counterfeiting work on agricultural materials. As of April 20, quality supervision departments nationwide had dispatched 81,582 law enforcement personnel, handled 539 agricultural materials cases, with a goods value of 14.75 million yuan, reducing agricultural production losses by 16.61 million yuan.

It is understood that in this year's "anti-counterfeiting agricultural materials in rural areas" campaign, quality supervision departments in various places went deep into the fields to organize and carry out the "enter a thousand villages, visit a thousand households, take a thousand samples" campaign, entering a total of 9,396 villages and 24,056 farming households. They carried out free testing of agricultural materials products used on a large scale and widely within their jurisdictions, actively promoted on-site rapid testing; published the sampling and testing results of law enforcement inspections and the handling of agricultural materials violations in their jurisdictions; and publicized laws and regulations, knowledge on identifying counterfeit and substandard products, and the "12365" reporting and complaint hotline.

In deepening the "Quality Inspection Sword" campaign against counterfeit agricultural materials, quality supervision departments in various places took chemical fertilizers as the key product and strictly investigated quality violations such as insufficient effective content, false labeling, and unlicensed production. In April this year, the Law Enforcement Department of the General Administration organized quality supervision departments in 13 provinces including Shandong and Sichuan to carry out centralized investigations of 88 clues to chemical fertilizer quality violations previously identified through undercover inspections. The Guizhou Quality Supervision Bureau, starting from the distribution link in key areas for agricultural materials anti-counterfeiting across the province, traced agricultural materials cases backward, handled 2 major and important cases, and transferred them to public security organs. The Xinjiang Quality Supervision Bureau organized a special joint law enforcement concentrated action for chemical fertilizer agricultural materials products.

While deepening regional rectification work, and in accordance with the requirement to form a multi-party co-governance work pattern, various places improved the responsibility system under which local governments bear overall responsibility, enterprises bear primary responsibility, and regulatory departments each fulfill their own duties. Through measures such as law enforcement inspections, dispatching personnel for supervision, undercover inspections, inspection recommendations, and summoning responsible persons of key area governments for talks, they promoted the in-depth development of rectification work in key agricultural materials areas. In Liuyang City, Hunan, phosphate fertilizer, Shuangfeng County, rice milling machines, Cili County, small chemical fertilizers, and Leiyang City, small agricultural machinery, through rectification, regional product quality problems were effectively resolved. The Hebei Quality Supervision Bureau included key agricultural materials product areas in the assessment content for local governments, promoting governments and various departments to implement comprehensive rectification of agricultural materials product quality.

At the same time, quality inspection departments in various places also actively carried out anti-counterfeiting efforts for rural consumer goods and agricultural e-commerce products. Focusing on products such as small home appliances, daily chemicals, and hardware and electrical materials, they seriously investigated and handled illegal acts of manufacturing and selling counterfeit and shoddy products. They made full use of e-commerce platforms to expand case sources and traced illegal acts of manufacturing and selling fake and inferior agricultural materials and rural consumer goods. A total of 74 cases of e-commerce manufacturing and selling fake and inferior agricultural materials were handled, with a goods value of 590,000 yuan; 35 cases of manufacturing and selling fake and inferior rural consumer goods were handled, with a goods value of 870,000 yuan.

A relevant person in charge of the Law Enforcement and Supervision Department of the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine said that the next step will be to take serving "agriculture, rural areas, and farmers" as the main line and actively promote the autumn anti-counterfeiting agricultural materials in rural areas campaign. Taking the handling of major and important agricultural materials cases as the key measure, they will strengthen supervision and, and through methods such as on-site supervision, case file inspection, and performance assessment, promote the investigation and handling of agricultural materials cases, strengthen the supervision and guidance of grassroots agricultural materials law enforcement and anti-counterfeiting work, and promote the in-depth development of the agricultural materials anti-counterfeiting battle of the "Quality Inspection Sword" campaign.