Recently, the China Food and Drug Administration ("CFDA") has issued the Opinions on Further Stepping up Efforts in Handling Food and Drug Cases (the "Opinions").
The Opinions lay down 15 specific requirements in four aspects, including "stepping up efforts to follow up cases and placing stricter risk control over products concerned". Further, the Opinions make it clear that efforts should focus on probing into cases involving production or operation of poisonous or harmful food or food that is inconsistent with food safety standards, cases in relation to production or sales of counterfeit or substandard drugs, cases concerning false information on labels or inauthentic publicity, cases involving sales of fake drugs through the internet, and those related to unauthorized production or sales of food, drugs, medical devices or cosmetics. Moreover, the Opinions call for fully implementing the provisions of imposing penalties on every single individual held liable. Where a natural person committing a crime will be prohibited from getting engaged in the food or drug production or operation or working to manage the food or drug safety for a certain period of time, the Administrative Penalty Decision should specify and announce the prohibition to the public, for the purpose of intensifying punishment from the qualification level.