In May, regarding the formulation of the "Foshan Ceramics" standard, Foshan City issued the first batch of "Foshan Standard" certification to 16 ceramic tile companies, and "Ceramic Information" published "Counterfeit "Foshan Bricks" and false promotion of negative ion effects! A series of reports such as "A dealer in Henan was fined 200,000 yuan" has aroused heated discussions in the industry about Guangdong bricks and Foshan bricks.
Recently, the People's Court of Wuling District, Changde City, Hunan Province issued an administrative ruling regarding the refusal to investigate and punish suspected counterfeit Guangdong bricks, which once again attracted the attention of "Ceramic Information", but this time the results were somewhat different.
Suspected of counterfeit Guangdong bricks
A ceramic company in Hubei is under investigation
The matter has to start in May last year. At that time, the Municipal Supervision Bureau of Wuling District, Changde City received reports from the masses that when they were purchasing ceramic tiles at the Wuling District Yuemei ×× Ceramics Sales Department, they found that the sales department sold "Bo There is no manufacturer information on the outer packaging of the "×" brand microcrystalline mirror interior wall tiles. I am worried that I have purchased counterfeit Guangdong ceramic tiles and request verification.
The next day, law enforcement officers from the Wuling District Municipal Supervision Bureau conducted an on-site inspection of the above-mentioned ceramic business department and found that the business department sold "Bo×" brand microcrystalline mirror interior wall tiles with "Foshan" printed on the outer packaging Honored product of Emperor ×× Co., Ltd., address: ×× Road, Chancheng District, Foshan City (verified by "Ceramic Information", the company's registered place is Huaxia Ceramics Expo City)
After being inquired by law enforcement officers, the operator claimed that the "BOX" brand microcrystalline mirror interior wall tiles were produced and supplied by Hubei ×× Ceramics Co., Ltd., and provided his own and the business license, ceramic tile inspection report and Imperial Ceramics Co., Ltd. ×Ceramic sales invoice.
In order to verify the source of the poster and the authenticity and legality of the promotional content on the outer packaging of the product, the Wuling District Municipal Supervision Bureau issued an "Investigation Notice" to Hubei ×× Ceramics Co., Ltd., requiring the company to send personnel to the The Bureau will accept the investigation and provide relevant information.
Refuse to cooperate with the investigation?
Municipal Supervision Bureau: fined 30,000, with additional penalty of 30,000
After Hubei XX Ceramics Co., Ltd. communicated with the Wuling District Municipal Supervision Bureau on the phone, it mailed to the bureau a business license including the company’s business license and the business license of Foshan XX Ceramics Co., Ltd. (formerly Foshan Di×× Ceramics Co., Ltd.)According to the relevant documents, "Explanation on the Relationship between XX Ceramics, Dix Ceramics and Foshan Dix Ceramics", "Entrusted Production Agreement" and other relevant materials, but no one was sent to the Municipal Supervision Bureau of Wuling District, Changde City, Hunan Province.
The Wuling District Municipal Supervision Bureau believes that the information provided by Hubei XX Ceramics Co., Ltd. does not meet the requirements, and once again requires the company to send people to bring relevant information to the bureau for investigation. However, the company did not send people to bring the information to the Wuling District Municipal Supervision Bureau for questioning as required.
Wuling District Municipal Supervision Bureau believes that Hubei ×× Ceramics Co., Ltd. violated Article 14 of the Anti-Unfair Competition Law of the People’s Republic of China, which states that “the supervisory and inspection departments investigate suspected unfair competition behaviors, the operators under investigation, and the interests "Related parties and other relevant units and individuals shall truthfully provide relevant information or circumstances", which constitutes an illegal act of refusing to accept investigation.
Therefore, the company is planned to be dealt with as follows: 1. Order it to immediately perform its legal obligations under investigation; 2. Fine it RMB 30,000.
Hubei ×× Ceramics Co., Ltd. did not file a statement or defense within the prescribed time, and did not apply for administrative review or initiate an administrative lawsuit within the statutory time limit for the above-mentioned administrative penalty decision, nor did it perform the obligations determined by the administrative penalty decision. Therefore, in February this year, the Wuling District Municipal Supervision Bureau issued a performance reminder, requiring the company to pay a fine of 30,000 yuan and an additional fine of 30,000 yuan, totaling 60,000 yuan. The company still has not paid the fine.
Therefore, the Wuling District Municipal Supervision Bureau filed a lawsuit with the Wuling District People's Court, requesting enforcement.
The procedure is correct, but the applicable law is incorrect
Court: The statutory conditions for enforcement are not met
After the trial, the court held that although Hubei XX Ceramics Co., Ltd. did not send anyone to the Wuling District Municipal Supervision Bureau for investigation, it provided relevant information as required, and the relevant information met the requirements of the Wuling District Municipal Supervision Bureau, so it has cooperated The obligation to investigate cannot be regarded as an act that hinders the supervision and inspection department from performing its duties in accordance with the law and refuses or obstructs the investigation.
At the same time, the court pointed out that the administrative penalty decision made by the Wuling District Municipal Supervision Bureau was procedurally legal, but the facts found clearly lacked factual basis, resulting in incorrect application of the law. Therefore, it does not meet the legal conditions for enforcement and will not be enforced.
It should be noted that the reason why the Wuling District Municipal Supervision Bureau made the decision to impose a penalty was not because it determined that the above-mentioned company had engaged in false propaganda of "counterfeit Guangdong bricks", but because it "refused to accept investigation", and it was precisely because of " Refusal to accept investigation", whether it constitutes false propaganda of "fake Guangdong bricks" has not been determined, The results of further investigation by the Wuling District Municipal Supervision Bureau are still needed.
However, the whole case was still caused by consumers reporting that manufacturers and merchants were suspected of counterfeiting Guangdong ceramic tiles. This was not an isolated case. "Ceramic Information" learned from multiple complaint platforms and public reports that since this year alone, there have been many cases of suspected counterfeiting. Cases of complaints and investigations regarding counterfeit Guangdong bricks and Foshan bricks.
It can be seen that with the increasing transparency of information and the increasing awareness of consumers' rights protection, the widespread phenomenon in the ceramic tile industry that the brand registration place and origin are inconsistent with the actual situation has been questioned by more and more consumers. In the future, we may be able to promote the standardization of ceramic tile brands and origins.
(This article is reproduced from Ceramic Information)
