On May 17, the official website of the State Administration for Market Regulation announced that in response to the recent surge in prices of anti-epidemic materials such as meltblown cloth, the State Administration for Market Regulation formed a task force to go to Jiangsu, Shanghai, Zhejiang, Guangdong and other places to strictly investigate middlemen. and manufacturers’ price violations, and resolutely cut off the illegal chain of driving up the prices of epidemic prevention materials such as meltblown cloth. Market supervision departments at all levels will further intensify the price supervision of anti-epidemic materials such as meltblown cloth, and severely punish offenders who drive up prices and make “epidemic wealth” during the epidemic prevention and control period.
In late April, the State Administration for Market Regulation investigated and dealt with a series of illegal cases involving interrelated middlemen and manufacturers driving up the prices of anti-epidemic materials such as meltblown cloth through preliminary clues. After investigation, Shanghai middleman Ma obtained melt-blown fabrics and spunbond non-woven fabrics at low prices from a melt-blown fabric manufacturer in Shanghai through a shell company and resold them at high prices, making a cumulative profit of more than 6 million yuan. The middleman Yu Moumou obtained the supply of goods through Ma Mou and other channels and then resold them at a higher price, making a total profit of more than 3 million yuan.
The State Administration for Market Regulation stated that the illegal circumstances of the above-mentioned cases are complicated, and the parties involved include both middlemen and manufacturers, both enterprises and individuals; the products involved include melt-blown fabrics , spunbond non-woven fabrics, and polypropylene modified materials. The illegal methods of the parties involved are concealed, and the upstream and downstream parties involved in the hype generally do not sign contracts or issue invoices. Some middlemen collude with the staff of production companies internally and externally, and use shell companies to evade supervision.
It is reported that the task force will investigate 9 typical cases in a short period of time. Among them, a non-woven company in Jiangmen, Guangdong Province fined and confiscated a total of more than 32.7 million yuan to the parties concerned. Four suspected criminal cases have been handed over to the public security organs.
Since the outbreak, prices of anti-epidemic materials have been repeatedly driven up, mainly products such as melt-blown cloth and mask machines. Lawyer Gao Tongwu, director of the criminal department of Beijing Yingke Law Firm, said in an interview with reporters that when the national epidemic broke out and the supply of anti-epidemic supplies exceeded demand, some unscrupulous businesses and individuals took advantage of the emergency prevention and control of the epidemic and the surge in demand for anti-epidemic supplies to take risks to make money. Huge profits. On the one hand, in order to evade supervision, middlemen collude with enterprises involved in price gouging, not signing contracts, not issuing invoices, or even using shell companies, making it difficult for national regulatory authorities to obtain evidence and find effective evidence to impose penalties. On the other hand, there are omissions in national supervision and failure to accurately supervise and impose timely penalties in accordance with relevant legal provisions.
Previously, the State Administration for Market Regulation has repeatedly cracked down on the problem of driving up the prices of anti-epidemic materials, and stated that “it will crack down on behaviors such as driving up the price of melt-blown fabrics when they surface, and will never tolerate it.” Deploy special investigations and organize special case investigations. Zang Tiewei, spokesperson of the Legal Affairs Committee of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress, also said in an interview with the media that such cases should be handled seriously and expeditiously in accordance with the law. For behaviors that disrupt market order related to epidemic prevention and control, their special harm must be fully considered and severely punished in accordance with the law.
Gao Tongwu said that the illegal and criminal behavior of “price gouging” by qualitative operators (from production to retail) is mainly based on the “Regulations on Administrative Penalties for Price Violations” and other relevant laws and regulations . During the period of epidemic prevention and control, in violation of relevant national market operations, price management and other regulations, hoarding, driving up the prices of masks, goggles, protective clothing, disinfectant and other protective supplies, medicines or other items related to people’s livelihood that are urgently needed for epidemic prevention and control, and making huge profits. If the amount of illegal gains is relatively large or there are other serious circumstances that seriously disrupt the market order, they will be convicted and punished for the crime of illegal business in accordance with the provisions of Article 225, Paragraph 4 of the Criminal Law.
Regarding the rectification of price hikes of epidemic prevention materials at the current stage, Gao Tongwu suggested that comprehensive control of supervision platforms, including online platforms (Taobao, Tmall, JD.com, WeChat, etc.), set up special Complaint channels; the regulatory authorities in the areas where offline physical stores (supermarkets, pharmacies, etc.) are located set up dedicated personnel. If a case is discovered, they will be investigated to the end and will not be tolerated. </p
