The Research Of The Right Of Consumer's Food Safety

The food safety related incidents broke up repeatedly in our country in recent years, these food safety related incidents not only attacked close attention of the society, and they also brought deep worries of consumers for food safety. The food is the first demand for survival of human being; the safety is the first assurance for living of human being. Therefore, the life, health safety of consumers will be better protected only if there is more concern on food safety and special protection for consumers.Although safety right practically existed in the legal system of present food safety laws, and there is consumers'safety right in Food Safety Law of the People's Republic of China ("Food Safety Law"), with the showing up of food safety issue, it is necessary to rise up food safety right because the existing problems can not be resolved by consumers'safety right. Safety right is the essential right of consumers; certainly, food safety right is the essential right of consumers. At the present time, most of literate of our country protected life and health safety of consumers based on public safety aspect through regulating and supervising activities of manufacturers and operators, as well as setting related authorities and exercising the related authority. Based on the characteristic relationship between consumers and manufacturers, operators, some literate also studied the food safety right roughly included in safety right of consumers. Several literate are bold to advance "food safety right", but there is few discussion and statement on the food safety itself.As the specific law in food safety area, Food Safety Law shall have responsibility and obligation to resolve the existing problems in society which is a necessity and give better protection for health and life safety of consumers based on current status of food safety with a plenty of problems. But, the author found that there is no description for food safety right, no specific right of consumers and obligation of manufacturer and operator in Food Safety Law, what was worse, due to no specific scope of right, which easily brings the ambiguity and conflict of applicable laws and confusion of judicial practices. Therefore, in legal opinion, it is necessary to deeply study the food safety right of consumers itself. The content is divided into four sections. In the first section of the introduction, based on severe problem in society and ambiguity in theory and legislation, the author raised food safety right of consumers and specified the method and purpose of studying food safety right by introducing repeated food safety incidents in society.In the second section of profile of food safety right, the author briefly introduced the developing process of right-safety right of consumers-food safety right of consumers, gave clear origin and roadmap of food safety right of consumers, and emphasized the meaning to study food safety right.In third section, current status of food safety right of consumers in our country. Firstly, through theoretically analyzing, it found that there is different on determining the nature of food safety right of consumers and the content and scope of which is not specific as well; secondly, through analyzing general condition of legislation, it found the defect and deficiency of food safety right of consumers in present laws in our country, especially in Food Safety Law as the specific law; lastly, the author found out the existing problems of food safety right of consumers in current judicial practice, by taking the example of civil compensation of "The Sanlu Scandal" case.In fourth section of improvement of food safety right of consumers, based on theoretical analysis, comparative study on present laws and analysis on typical cases, the author defined the character, content and scope of food safety right of consumers, i.e. food safety right of consumers is private right of civil law, is the right consumers enjoyed during the process of consumption and which prevents consumers from and against any harm for life safety, physical safety, health safety, property safety and mind. Consumers shall have right to ask manufacture and operator to provide safe food; consumers shall have right to ask manufacture and operator to provide safeguard; consumers shall have right to ask manufacture and operator to provide specific and effective warning and introduction; consumers shall have right to ask manufacture and operator to recall the defective food. The author thinks that Food Safety Law shall specify food safety right of consumers as soon as possible in legislation, and ensure to realize food safety right of consumers through specifying the content of right & obligation and civil obligation of manufacture & operator, setting up quality assurance fund system for food safety and special risk rescue funds for food of consumers. Besides, by learning mature practices at home and abroad, the author suggested a) set up small claim courts, and apply class action system in order to hear the small claim case of consumers fast and easily, at the same time, which hopefully can relieve the pressure of judicial resource strain; b) by introducing the theory of consumers prospects to resolve the difficulty in defining defective food. The author hopes that this study can is useful for improvement of legislation and related judicial practices, in order to better realized food safety right of consumers in order to protect life and health safety of consumers.