Chapter 31 Why Food Fraud Is So Rampant

The second culprit of the "government depression" is the strengthened rules and regulations due to the "fraud problem." The Japanese government has strengthened relevant rules and regulations based on the counterfeiting problems discovered in recent years, which led to social chaos and eventually depression. Here, take the "earthquake counterfeiting incident" mentioned earlier as an example.This incident caused an uproar in Japan, and then the government revised the construction law. The construction review was more complicated than before, and it took more time. The final result was that there were no contractors to repair the houses. Companies operating residential buildings can no longer sustain themselves. In December 2007, the number of residential buildings under construction fell by 14% year-on-year, resulting in a large number of unemployed.

This depressed situation is created by the government (Figure 2-2). This measure of strengthening the system is not only reflected in the "Building Standards Law", but also in the Customs Industry Law (that is, Japan's pornographic industry), the Loan Law and other aspects. People are more concerned about counterfeiting than the impact of these measures on the economy.At this point, not only officials, but everyone has become a fool. In the end, the government admitted what I said, and Fukuda bowed his head in Congress and admitted that "due to lack of administrative foresight, it caused confusion and confusion in the industry."But isn't this something that can be foreseen with a little thought in advance?

When it comes to factors related to the government's depression, the people themselves are also responsible. If they had used their brains a little bit, they would have realized that "this will not lead to good results", and the ending would not have developed to this point.The vast majority of citizens don't think about anything, they only know to create chaos with the media, and in the end they just act according to the wishes of the government.This can be clearly understood if we look back at the "food fraud problem" that has been uncovered time and time again.

Over the years, all kinds of "food fraud problems" have emerged one after another, and there are too many to make people tired. Now, the government's supervision of enterprises is being strengthened.In addition, the supervision of consumers, operators, markets, rule makers and other aspects is being strengthened.Once something goes wrong, it will be featured in capital letters on the Internet. Some bad journalists search for materials on the Internet. If they find some negative issues about a certain company here, they will immediately collect materials and write relevant reports.As a result, politicians and officials immediately come forward and say, "This is a big problem!" So, step by step, the regulation of companies is tightened.I think that's how those food fraud issues become people's gossip.

The most typical example is the food poisoning incident caused by frozen dumplings produced in China. The Fukuda administration, which had been talking about strengthening legislation on consumer protection, took this incident as an opportunity to immediately establish the "Consumer Agency" (the bill for the establishment of the Consumer Agency was then deliberated). In doing so, he not only won the support of the public, but also made the food industry, which has always been rampant with counterfeiting, more standardized by strengthening supervision.Prime Minister Fukuda also started from "the principle of government work is production first", and proposed that laws and regulations should be improved under the supervision of the people in the future. He may feel good about himself, but he does not know that doing so has exacerbated "government depression".

If goods produced in China are no longer used under this regulation, the entire food industry is in crisis.Like those small restaurants, taverns, and restaurants on the street, their cost will increase to twice the original cost.After that, what followed was the bankruptcy of many companies.In addition, due to rising food prices, the pockets of the people themselves will be deflated. Did you realize before that we're killing ourselves?Cracking down on food fraud is great, but do you realize how expensive it is?Therefore, it is necessary to reconsider "why there are so many food frauds" and "is it all the responsibility of the people engaged in the manufacturing industry"?

Most of the food fraud cases discovered in recent years are related to the fraudulent origin. The Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries not only knew about it, but even participated in it.Officials often look at issues from the standpoint of the industry, and misunderstand what kind of laws and regulations can be introduced to benefit the development of the industry.If you cannot understand this, you will not be able to see the essence of the problem.If the government really implements the policy of "production first" that Prime Minister Fukuda said, then I would like to question this: "Is it production first, or is it producer first?"

In short, the government has always placed "producers" in a higher position than "consumers".