Water related products (water pipes, dispensers, purifiers valves etc) occupy a regulatory grey area. Their management is legislated for and regulated for by various legal documents. Punishment for violations of water related product compliance requirements, particuarly those with the potential to have a deleterious impact on human health are punished severely based on classification of water related products as consumer products with the potential to impact human health which are specifically manged by State Council “Special rules”. Authorities tend to issues punishments in reference to these “special rules” which are more severe than the financial punishments stipulated by subordinate legal documents.
Beijing authorities released an explanation of its recent ruling to impose financial punishments on a prominent ecommerce retailer after it was discovered selling illegally imported drinking water machines.
Recently, Beijing authorities upheld a decision to impose an administrative sanction on a famous e-commerce platform after it was discovered selling non-compliant water dispensers. Beijing NHC imposed a fined of 310,000 Yuan, which exceeds normal sanction guidelines issued in China’s water product regulations. Based on our analysis of the explanation released by authorities it appears that authorites tend to view water related products as consumer products with the potential to impact human health which are specifically regulated by “special rules” . Going forward we expect water related product compliance violations, particuarly those that impact the safety of products to be subject to fines similar to those for cosmetics, medical devices, medicines, household appliance, children’s toys, labor protection goods, auto parts and other life and health related products.
