What is the penalty for a commercial legal entity that commits the crime of producing counterfeit pesticides?
(Baonghean.vn) - My company processed ingredients for a pesticide production unit and then they were arrested for counterfeiting. What is the penalty for a commercial legal entity that commits the crime of counterfeiting pesticides? This is a concern of Mr. Nguyen Van Tuan (Vinh City).
Reply: Counterfeit goods production is the performance of one, several or all of the activities of manufacturing, publishing, printing, processing, ordering, preliminary processing, processing, extracting, recycling, assembling, mixing, dividing, decanting, filling, packaging and other activities to produce counterfeit goods.
At Clause 6, Article 195 of the 2015 Penal Code, amended in 2017, it is stipulated that a commercial legal entity committing the crime of producing and trading in counterfeit goods such as animal feed, fertilizers, veterinary medicines, pesticides, plant varieties, and animal breeds shall be punished as follows:
- Committing a crime under the provisions of Clause 1, Article 1 of the 2015 Penal Code, amended and supplemented in 2017, shall be subject to a fine of from VND 1,000,000,000 to VND 3,000,000,000;
- Committing a crime in one of the cases specified in points a, b, c, e, g, h and i, Clause 2 of this Article shall be subject to a fine of from VND 3,000,000,000 to VND 6,000,000,000;
- Committing a crime under the provisions of Clause 3 of this Article shall be subject to a fine of from VND 6,000,000,000 to VND 9,000,000,000;
- Committing a crime under the provisions of Clause 4 of the 2015 Penal Code, amended and supplemented in 2017, shall be subject to a fine of from VND 9,000,000,000 to VND 15,000,000,000 or suspension of operations for a period of 06 months to 03 years;
- Committing a crime under the provisions of Article 79 of the 2015 Penal Code, amended and supplemented in 2017, shall be subject to permanent suspension of operations;
- Commercial legal entities may also be fined from VND 100,000,000 to VND 300,000,000, banned from doing business, banned from operating in certain fields or banned from raising capital from 01 to 03 years.
Thus, a commercial legal entity committing a crime may be subject to a maximum fine of VND 15,000,000,000 or a suspension of operations for a period of 06 months to 03 years. In case of committing a crime under Article 79 of the 2015 Penal Code, its operations will be permanently suspended. In addition, a commercial legal entity may be subject to additional penalties such as a fine of VND 100,000,000 to VND 300,000,000, a ban on doing business, a ban on operating in certain fields, or a ban on raising capital for a period of 01 to 03 years.
