In recent years, food safety incidents have made the judicial accountability of related enterprises firm, but the judicial accountability of dereliction of duty supervisors is far from in place.
A food safety supervision storm triggered by steamed bread is blowing from Shanghai to the whole country. On April 1 1, the incident of "dyeing steamed buns" was exposed in supermarkets in Shanghai. The next day, the whole city launched a "big inspection of steamed buns". Subsequently, many cities in Inner Mongolia, Tianjin, Shandong, Jiangsu, Zhejiang and other places have carried out special rectification of the steamed bread market.
We are actually familiar with similar special rectification storms. After the food safety incidents such as tainted milk powder incident, Sudan red storm, the mystery of "one drop of incense" and "bodybuilding pig" occurred, they were all rectified on a large scale again and again. It should be said that the massive rectification action has played a great role in quickly finding out the problem.
However, the repeated exposure of food problems also makes us ponder: to what extent can this storm be rectified in order to save food from fire and water?
The special rectification storm, which focuses on major inspections, failed to touch the institutional pain point of food safety. A temporary storm can kill flies, but it can't change the environment where flies breed. Ignoring the governance of the whole institutional environment gives enterprises and regulators an excuse to evade their responsibilities. In the "Dyed Steamed Bread" incident in Shanghai, regulators "resolutely refused to protect their weaknesses" and Hualian Supermarket "exploited loopholes for illegal producers". The self-defense of these members may be glimpsed.
In fact, many food safety problems stem from the "hidden rules" of the industry. According to the relevant regulatory authorities in Shanghai, supermarkets will return the food near the shelf life to the manufacturers, and the expired food will be reprocessed by the manufacturers as raw materials. This is the "hidden rule" of the industry-how can the regulatory authorities turn a blind eye for many years? Food safety incidents occur frequently, and unscrupulous enterprises can't escape the blame, but the lack and confusion of administrative supervision is the fundamental reason. Even in the "Clenbuterol" incident, some regulators formed an interest alliance with illegal enterprises and businesses, stealing from the inside, and the food safety defense line fell.
If the disadvantages accumulated by administrative supervision are not eliminated, the promise of food safety is empty talk. However, the shortcomings accumulated in the administrative system can not be solved by self-examination and self-correction, and need strong supervision and accountability from outside. After the incident of "dyed steamed bread" in Shanghai, the food production license of unscrupulous production enterprises was quickly revoked, and five suspects, including the legal representative of the company, were criminally detained by the public security department according to law. But when will the judicial accountability of regulators begin? Consumers eager for food safety also expect the sword of justice to swing at these areas, asking how the "last line of defense" that should ensure the safety of citizens collapsed.
Looking back on the food safety incidents in recent years, the judicial accountability of criminal enterprises, especially small and medium-sized private enterprises, has been basically in place, but the judicial accountability of dereliction of duty supervisors is far from in place. At the end of March this year, the Supreme People's Procuratorate just issued the "Notice on Severe Punishment of Crimes Endangering Food Safety and Related Duty Crimes", demanding that the investigation of state public officials' dereliction of duty in food safety should be strengthened from the judicial level, and the food safety supervisors and law enforcers should be held accountable. It is generally believed that this will effectively improve the effectiveness of supervision, thus curbing illegal activities in the food field. This also makes the accountability of the "Shantou incident" have a demonstration effect to a certain extent.
Various food safety incidents challenge consumers' imagination; The disorder and confusion of supervision challenge the credit and authority of managers. "Dyed steamed bread" once again sounded the alarm of food safety, and for whom the alarm sounded, it is worth pondering.