The Application And Improvement Of Punitive Damages In Food Label Disputes

2015,Food Safety Law of the People's Republic of China became effective.A number of significant changes have been made to China's food regulations.One of the most attractive revision is punitive damages.It not only increases the amount of punitive damages,but also increases the provisions of punitive damages for the exclusion of food label defects.Throughout the cases of food safety disputes in recent years,consumers often demand the trader to pay the product price compensation of 10 times for the reason of various food labels do not meet food safety standards.This revision makes the compensation system more realistic and flexible,it is also a response to how to j determine the liability for food label defects in judicial practice in recent years.However,courts often judge different cases in the same case.The reason is that the applicable conditions of punitive damages for judges are not clear.in different regions.The reason is that the applicable conditions of punitive damages for judges in different regions are not clear.Some judges determined that the seller shall bear a high amount of compensation easily.Based on the comparative analysis of typical cases in judicial practice,aiming at the difficulties in the application of the law,some feasible suggestions are put forward..Firstly,it expounds legal provisions and necessity about applying punitive damages to food label disputes;secondly,it finds out two typical cases from practice,clarifies the basic situation of the cases,the trial opinions of the first and second instance,and finds that the results of the judgments are quite different,through the case comparison summarizes the difficulties of judicial decisions.For example,the judgement of sellers' "knowing" is severe,the method of judicial review is inconsistent,and the distribution of burden of proof between consumers and sellers is not clear.Finally,above all,the author puts forward the rules of proof for improving food label disputes,insisting on the substantive examination method of food label disputes,unifying identification standards of sellers “knowing”,and improving the l rule of assignation of burden of proof in food label disputes.The author hopes to unify the conditions of punitive damages in food label disputes,and provide more perfect legal protection for food safety in China.