Products Punitive Liability For E-commerce Selling Fresh Products

With the advent of the internet era,e-commerce platforms have sprung up.Since the outbreak of the new crown epidemic in 2020,consumers’ demand for vegetables and fruits,rice,flour,grain and oil has increased,and e-commerce platforms have become an important way to meet the consumption demand of the public for fresh products.As the mass media pay more attention to food safety issues,consumers’ awareness of rights protection has also increased.Although the scale of e-commerce fresh product transactions continues to expand and sales grow rapidly,the safety problem of e-commerce sales of fresh products still exists.In order to effectively protect consumers’ health and life safety,it is urgent to highlight the safety of consumers’ fresh products in the new e-commerce format.Although the academic research on the punitive liability of e-commerce has been around for a long time,the empirical analysis of the punitive liability of e-commerce sales of fresh food products is insufficient.This paper first analyzes the basic theories related to e-commerce entities,fresh products and punitive damages,and determines that the types of e-commerce entities include e-commerce platform operators and in-platform operators.Through the analysis of 57 judicial cases involving the sale of fresh products by e-commerce,the cases requiring in-platform operators and e-commerce platform operators to bear punitive liability were analyzed respectively.It was found that there were omissions in the identification of fraud,and there was a lack of consideration for the performance of fraud,making it difficult to identify that false publicity constituted fraud for purchasers who knew that they were buying fake goods.There are obstacles to consumer protection,there are differences in determining whether the purchaser who knows the fake is a consumer,the burden of proof is unreasonably distributed,and it is too difficult for consumers to bear the burden of proof.The proportion of e-commerce platform operators bearing punitive liability is low,with only 18 out of 57 cases requiring e-commerce platform operators to bear punitive liability,and only 3 separate prosecutions against e-commerce platform operators,and none of them are liable.In view of the above problems,combined with the guiding principles of maintaining transaction fairness and protecting consumers’ rights and interests,this paper puts forward the elements of clarifying the constituent elements of fraud,distinguishes between contract fraud and performance fraud,and determines that false publicity constitutes fraud based on objective standards.The high degree of certainty standard shall apply to the consumer’s proof of evidence,and the burden of proof shall be reversed,and the purchaser who knows the fake is determined to be the consumer;Analyze the types of joint and several liability for punitive damages borne by e-commerce platforms,and clarify the constituent elements and recognition standards of liability.