Legal Red Line: Total Ban on Transporting Foods Without Legal Origin or Quarantine Certification

Introduction

Legal origin and valid quarantine certification of food are two core prerequisites for ensuring food safety, and even more so, an insurmountable legal red line in the field of food transportation. Foods without legal origin are disconnected from supervision during production, processing, and storage, posing multiple risks such as substandard raw materials, illegal additives, deterioration, and contamination. Meanwhile, foods lacking valid quarantine certification—especially livestock, poultry, and aquatic products—may carry pathogenic microorganisms, parasites, and other harmful factors, serving as important vectors for epidemic transmission. Through a series of laws and regulations including the Food Safety Law of the People’s Republic of China, the Animal Epidemic Prevention Law of the People’s Republic of China, and the Agricultural Product Quality and Safety Law of the People’s Republic of China, China has clearly established a comprehensive ban on transporting “foods without legal origin + without quarantine certification,” building a solid defense for public health, public health security, and the orderly development of the food industry.

Currently, in the food circulation sector, some operators still take desperate risks to transport foods without legal origin or quarantine certification in pursuit of illegal profits. This not only disrupts the normal market order but also poses a serious threat to public life and health. This article systematically sorts out the definition standards, legal basis for the transportation ban, potential risks and hazards, regulatory implementation mechanisms, and full-chain compliance strategies for foods without legal origin or quarantine certification. It aims to provide clear behavioral guidelines and regulatory references for transportation enterprises, producers and operators, and regulatory authorities, promote the standardized and legalized development of the food transportation industry, and safeguard the “last mile” of food safety.

I. Definition Standards for Foods Without Legal Origin or Quarantine Certification

(I) Identification Boundaries for Foods Without Legal Origin

Foods without legal origin refer to those that cannot provide valid documents to prove their compliance with legal requirements during production, processing, and circulation, with broken traceability chains or illegal circumstances. The core of their identification lies in the “completeness, legality, and authenticity of origin documents,” including the following specific scenarios:

1. Core Identification Scenarios
   • Foods unable to provide source documents such as production enterprise qualification certificates, food production licenses, and product conformity certificates;
   • Foods with unknown origin, unclear procurement channels, and inability to provide key information such as the supplier’s name, address, and contact details;
   • Foods obtained through illegal means such as smuggling, illegal fishing, illegal breeding, and illegal processing (e.g., smuggled frozen products, illegally caught aquatic products, and unlicensed processed meat products);
   • Foods that usurp others’ qualifications or forge production records or procurement documents;
   • Foods produced and circulated beyond the scope of licensed business without valid authorization certificates.
2. Key Identification Documents
   • Production links: Food production licenses, factory inspection certificates, batch production records, raw material procurement documents, etc.;
   • Circulation links: Procurement inspection records, sales vouchers, supplier qualification certificates, cold chain transportation records, etc.;
   • Special foods: Health food approval certificates, import food customs declarations, inspection and quarantine certificates, animal quarantine certificates, etc.

(II) Definition Standards for Foods Without Valid Quarantine Certification

Quarantine certification is a legal document proving that food—especially livestock, poultry, aquatic products, and fresh agricultural products—has passed statutory quarantine procedures and is free of epidemics and harmful microorganisms. The identification of foods without valid quarantine certification focuses on the “compliance of quarantine procedures” and the “validity of certification documents,” including the following specific scenarios:

1. Core Identification Scenarios
   • Foods transported without undergoing required quarantine or arbitrarily transported despite failing quarantine (e.g., unquarantined live pigs and poultry products);
   • Foods transported with forged, altered, or tampered quarantine certificates;
   • Foods with expired quarantine certificates or exceeding the valid transportation time limit (e.g., livestock and poultry products transported beyond the 24-hour time limit specified in the animal quarantine certificate);
   • Foods where the information such as name, quantity, and destination recorded in the quarantine certificate is inconsistent with the actually transported goods;
   • Foods that should be re-quarantined but not re-quarantined, or continued to be transported after the quarantine certificate has been revoked or cancelled.
2. Key Supervised Food Categories
   • Livestock and poultry products: Live animals such as pigs, cattle, sheep, chickens, and ducks, as well as chilled and frozen meat products;
   • Aquatic products: Fresh, live, and frozen aquatic products such as fish, shrimp, crabs, and shellfish;
   • Animal and plant-derived foods: Honey, dairy products, egg products, and edible wild animals (excluding legally farmed ones);
   • Imported foods: Imported foods that must pass customs inspection and quarantine and obtain the Entry Inspection and Quarantine Certificate for Goods.

II. Legal Basis and Rigid Constraints of the Transportation Ban System

(I) Core Legal System: Multi-Level Legislation Building a Solid Red Line

China has established a multi-level legal system centered on the Food Safety Law and the Animal Epidemic Prevention Law, supplemented by the Agricultural Product Quality and Safety Law, the Regulations on Road Transportation, and the Law of the People’s Republic of China on Import and Export Commodity Inspection. This system clearly defines the requirements and legal responsibilities for banning the transportation of foods without legal origin or quarantine certification.

1. Food Safety Law of the People’s Republic of China
   • Article 35 stipulates that the state implements a licensing system for food production and operation; no one may engage in food production and operation without obtaining a license. As an important part of food circulation, the transportation link must comply with the same regulatory standards;
   • Article 67 requires that prepackaged food shall have labels indicating information such as the producer’s name, address, and contact details. Foods without legal origin often lack the above key information and are classified as prohibited from production and operation (including transportation);
   • Article 123 clearly states that transporting unlabeled prepackaged food or imported food without obtaining inspection and quarantine certification shall result in the confiscation of illegal gains and the illegally transported food, and a fine of not less than five times but not more than ten times the value of the goods; in serious cases, the license shall be revoked.
2. Animal Epidemic Prevention Law of the People’s Republic of China
   • Article 49 stipulates that before slaughtering, selling, or transporting animals, or selling or transporting animal products, quarantine shall be declared and an animal quarantine certificate shall be obtained;
   • Article 78 clarifies that transporting animals or animal products without attaching a quarantine certificate shall be ordered to make corrections by the agricultural and rural department of the local people’s government at or above the county level, and a fine of not less than one time but not more than five times the value of the same type of quarantined animals or animal products shall be imposed; in serious cases, a fine of not less than five times but not more than ten times the value shall be imposed.
3. Agricultural Product Quality and Safety Law of the People’s Republic of China
   • Article 30 stipulates that agricultural product production enterprises, farmers’ professional cooperatives, and agricultural socialized service organizations shall establish agricultural product production records to ensure traceability;
   • Article 50 stipulates that transporting agricultural products without obtaining quarantine certification, failing quarantine, or without attaching quarantine certification shall result in the confiscation of illegal gains and the illegally transported agricultural products, and a fine of not less than ten times but not more than twenty times the value of the goods; those causing personal injury, property damage, or other harms to others shall bear civil liability in accordance with the law.
4. Regulations on Road Transportation of the People’s Republic of China
   • Article 26 stipulates that freight operators shall not transport goods prohibited by laws and administrative regulations;
   • Article 63 stipulates that transporting goods prohibited by the state shall be ordered to stop transportation operations by the competent transportation department of the local people’s government at or above the county level, with illegal gains confiscated and a fine of not less than two times but not more than ten times the illegal gains imposed; if there are no illegal gains or the illegal gains are less than 20,000 yuan, a fine of not less than 30,000 yuan but not more than 100,000 yuan shall be imposed.

(II) Core Principles of Legal Application

1. Comprehensive Ban Principle: Regardless of the value of the food or the transportation distance, any food lacking legal origin documents or valid quarantine certification is prohibited from transportation, with no exceptions;
2. Reverse Burden of Proof Principle: Transportation enterprises and operators shall prove that the transported food has a legal origin and has obtained valid quarantine certification; failure to prove this shall be deemed illegal transportation;
3. Severe Punishment Principle: Laws stipulate higher fines for transporting foods without legal origin or quarantine certification than for ordinary illegal transportation. In serious cases, relevant licenses may be revoked, and criminal liability shall be pursued in accordance with the law if a crime is constituted.

III. Multiple Risks and Hazards of Foods Without Legal Origin or Quarantine Certification

(I) Public Health Risks: Invisible Health Killers

1. Food Safety Accident Risks: Foods without legal origin often evade quality supervision during production and processing, potentially having problems such as deteriorated raw materials, illegal addition of preservatives, excessive heavy metals, and microbial contamination. For example, illegally processed meat products may use diseased and dead livestock and poultry as raw materials, containing pathogenic bacteria such as Salmonella and Bacillus anthracis; smuggled frozen products may be stored in substandard environments for a long time, breeding psychrotolerant bacteria such as Listeria. Consumption of such foods can easily cause acute gastroenteritis and food poisoning, and in severe cases, shock and death.
2. Epidemic Transmission Risks: Unquarantined livestock, poultry, and aquatic products may carry harmful factors such as highly pathogenic avian influenza virus, African swine fever virus, Streptococcus suis, and parasite eggs. Once leaked or flowing into the market during transportation, they may trigger large-scale epidemic transmission. For example, the transportation of unquarantined live pigs may become the main route for the cross-regional spread of African swine fever, threatening not only the safety of the breeding industry but also potentially infecting humans through the food chain.
3. Chronic Health Damage Risks: To reduce costs, some foods without legal origin may add industrial-grade additives (such as industrial salt and industrial gelatin) or excessively use pesticides and veterinary drugs. Long-term consumption of such foods can lead to the accumulation of toxic and harmful substances in the body, causing chronic diseases such as cancer, liver and kidney damage, and nervous system disorders. The harm is particularly severe for vulnerable groups such as the elderly, children, and pregnant women.

(II) Market Order and Industry Development Risks

1. Disruption of Fair Competition: Foods without legal origin or quarantine certification evade legal costs such as taxes, quarantine, and quality inspection, often being sold at lower prices than regular products. This seriously impacts the regular market, leading to the phenomenon of “bad money driving out good money” and harming the interests of legitimate producers and operators. For example, the price of smuggled frozen products is only 50%-70% of that of legally imported products, seriously disrupting the normal pricing mechanism of the meat market.
2. Industry Trust Crisis: Frequent food safety incidents involving foods without legal origin will reduce consumers’ trust in the food market, affecting not only the reputation of related industries but also potentially triggering an industry-wide trust crisis. For example, after a large number of illegally transported deteriorated beef and mutton were seized in a certain region, the sales of regular meat products in that region dropped significantly, causing huge economic losses to legitimate operators.
3. Threats to Industrial Security: The proliferation of foods without legal origin will hinder the standardized and large-scale development of the food industry. Illegal operators seize market share through illegal means, making it difficult for regular enterprises to obtain reasonable returns on their R&D and production investments, thereby affecting the technological progress and quality improvement of the industry and threatening national food industry security.

(III) Public Security and Ecological Environment Risks

1. Public Health Emergency Risks: Once foods without legal origin trigger large-scale food poisoning or epidemic transmission, they will consume a large amount of public health resources, cause social panic, and affect public order and stability. For example, a certain province once experienced the spread of highly pathogenic avian influenza due to the illegal transportation of unquarantined poultry products. The local government had to activate an emergency response, close live poultry markets, and cull infected poultry, resulting in huge social and economic costs.
2. Ecological Environment Damage Risks: During the transportation of aquatic products from illegal fishing and breeding, leakage or arbitrary disposal of waste may contaminate soil and water sources; the production and processing of some foods without legal origin lack environmental protection facilities, and their waste discharge will damage the ecological environment and affect ecological balance.
3. Cross-Border Illegal Linkage Risks: Smuggled foods without legal origin are often associated with illegal and criminal activities such as smuggling, tax evasion, and illegal operation. Some even involve transnational criminal groups, which not only disrupt the national tax collection and management order but also may trigger a series of derivative illegal and criminal activities, threatening national security.

IV. Regulatory Implementation Mechanisms and Law Enforcement Practices of the Transportation Ban System

(I) Multi-Department Collaborative Regulatory System

The supervision of foods without legal origin or quarantine certification involves multiple departments including agriculture and rural affairs, market supervision, transportation, public security, and customs. Each department performs its duties and collaborates to build a full-chain regulatory network covering transportation.

1. Agricultural and Rural Departments: Responsible for the quarantine supervision of agricultural products such as livestock, poultry, and aquatic products, focusing on investigating the transportation of agricultural products without attaching animal quarantine certificates; setting up quarantine points at source links such as production areas, slaughterhouses, and agricultural product wholesale markets to verify the quarantine of agricultural products transported out of the venue and prohibit unqualified products from entering the transportation link.
2. Market Supervision Departments: Responsible for the quality supervision of food in the circulation link, focusing on investigating the transportation of foods without legal origin, unlabeled, or with forged quarantine certificates; setting up inspection points at key nodes such as wholesale markets, farmers’ markets, and logistics parks to inspect documents such as food origin certificates, quarantine certificates, and quality conformity certificates.
3. Transportation Departments: Responsible for the supervision of transportation qualifications and transportation processes, focusing on investigating the transportation of prohibited foods without obtaining transportation licenses or using illegally modified vehicles; setting up inspection points at key sections such as highway entrances and exits, freight stations, and inter-provincial borders to conduct random inspections of food transport vehicles, verifying vehicle qualifications, drivers’ professional qualifications, and cargo transportation documents.
4. Public Security Departments: Responsible for combating illegal and criminal activities related to the transportation of foods without legal origin or quarantine certification, investigating cases involving smuggling, illegal operation, and endangering public security; establishing joint law enforcement mechanisms with other departments to investigate acts of violent resistance to law and obstruction of law enforcement, and pursue criminal liability of relevant personnel.
5. Customs Departments: Responsible for the inspection and quarantine supervision of imported foods, focusing on investigating smuggled foods and imported foods without obtaining inspection and quarantine certificates; strengthening port supervision, strictly examining customs declarations and quarantine certificates of imported foods, and preventing unqualified imported foods from flowing into the domestic market.

(II) Key Links of Full-Chain Supervision

1. Source Control: Strengthen the supervision of food production enterprises, breeding bases, and wholesale markets, requiring producers and operators to establish and improve systems such as procurement inspection, certificate and ticket collection, and production records to ensure traceable food origin and verifiable quarantine; severely crack down on unlicensed production and operation, illegal breeding and fishing, and other acts to cut off the supply of foods without legal origin at the source.
2. In-Transit Inspection: Implement a regulatory model combining “fixed inspections + mobile patrols,” setting up regular inspection points at key road sections and nodes of food transportation, and implementing “inspecting every vehicle and verifying every batch of goods” for food transport vehicles, focusing on checking origin documents, quarantine certificates, transportation temperature, and packaging conditions; use road transportation monitoring platforms to track the trajectory of transport vehicles and promptly detect abnormal transportation behaviors.
3. Terminal Traceability and Trace-Back: Establish a food traceability system, requiring food operators and transportation enterprises to truthfully record information such as food origin, destination, and transportation status. Once foods without legal origin or quarantine certification are found, immediately activate the traceability and trace-back mechanism to investigate the responsible entities in production, transportation, sales, and other links, realizing “traceable origin, trackable destination, and accountable responsibility.”
4. Technology-Enabled Supervision: Promote the application of intelligent supervision methods, such as using QR codes and RFID technology to realize full-process traceability of food information; adopt rapid detection equipment (such as pathogenic bacteria rapid detectors and veterinary drug residue rapid detectors) for on-site food testing to improve inspection efficiency; use big data analysis to conduct precise early warnings on vehicles with abnormal transportation routes and volumes, realizing targeted supervision.

(III) Typical Law Enforcement Cases

1. Case 1: Illegal Transportation of Unquarantined Live Pigs by a Transportation CompanyIn 2023, a transportation company was entrusted by an unqualified breeder to transport 20 live pigs without obtaining animal quarantine certificates from Hunan to Guangdong for sale. The company was jointly seized by agricultural and rural departments and public security departments during transportation. Tests showed that some of the live pigs carried swine fever virus. In accordance with the relevant provisions of the Animal Epidemic Prevention Law and the Agricultural Product Quality and Safety Law, the law enforcement departments confiscated and harmlessly disposed of the illegally transported live pigs, imposed a fine of 400,000 yuan (eight times the value of the goods) on the transportation company, a fine of 300,000 yuan on the breeder, and transferred the relevant responsible persons suspected of committing crimes to judicial organs for criminal liability.
2. Case 2: Illegal Transportation of Smuggled Frozen Products Without Legal Origin by a Smuggling GangIn 2022, a smuggling gang smuggled 100 tons of frozen beef and mutton through illegal border crossings without obtaining import customs declarations and inspection and quarantine certificates, and hired trucks to transport them to inland areas for sale. The customs department seized the batch of frozen products at the border port. Tests showed that some of the frozen products had problems such as deterioration and excessive microorganisms. In accordance with the relevant provisions of the Customs Law and the Food Safety Law, the law enforcement departments confiscated the batch of frozen products and illegal gains, imposed a fine of 2 million yuan on the smuggling gang, and the main members of the gang were sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment for the crime of smuggling ordinary goods.
3. Case 3: Illegal Transportation of Aquatic Products Without Legal Origin by an Individual Industrial and Commercial HouseholdIn 2023, an individual industrial and commercial household purchased 5 tons of uncertified aquatic products from illegal fishers, and entrusted transport vehicles to transport them to wholesale markets for sale without inspecting the supplier’s qualifications and product conformity certificates. The market supervision department seized the batch of aquatic products during inspections at the wholesale market. After verification, the batch of aquatic products had no legal origin documents. In accordance with the relevant provisions of the Food Safety Law and the Agricultural Product Quality and Safety Law, the law enforcement departments confiscated and harmlessly disposed of the batch of aquatic products, imposed a fine of 150,000 yuan (ten times the value of the goods) on the individual industrial and commercial household, and a fine of 80,000 yuan on the enterprise to which the transport vehicle belonged.

V. Full-Chain Compliance Strategies and Risk Prevention Recommendations

(I) Transportation Enterprises: Building the First Line of Defense for Compliant Transportation

1. Qualification and Personnel Compliance
   • Enterprises engaged in food transportation must obtain corresponding transportation qualifications (such as road freight operation licenses and special cold chain transportation qualifications) and be equipped with transport vehicles that meet requirements (such as cold chain vehicles with temperature monitoring functions and livestock and poultry transport vehicles with ventilation and epidemic prevention facilities);
   • Drivers, escorts, and other personnel must receive professional training on food safety, quarantine supervision, and emergency disposal, be familiar with relevant laws, regulations, and operating procedures, and master the identification methods of foods without legal origin or quarantine certification.
2. Cargo Inspection and Document Management
   • Establish a strict cargo inspection system. When undertaking food transportation business, must inspect the supplier’s production and operation qualifications, food conformity certificates, quarantine certificates, and other documents, and verify that the information such as food name, quantity, origin, and destination is consistent with the documents;
   • Resolutely refuse to transport goods without legal origin documents, incomplete or invalid quarantine certificates, or abnormal food appearance, and promptly report to regulatory authorities;
   • Properly keep transportation-related documents (such as waybills, inspection records, and temperature records) for a period of not less than 6 months to ensure full traceability of the entire transportation process.
3. Transportation Process and Emergency Management
   • Standardize transportation operating procedures, select appropriate transportation methods and vehicles according to food characteristics, ensure that transportation temperature, humidity, and other conditions meet requirements, and prevent food deterioration and contamination during transportation;
   • Establish emergency plans. If foods with unknown origin or invalid quarantine certificates are found during transportation, immediately stop transportation, take isolation, sealing, and other measures, and promptly report to local regulatory authorities and cooperate with investigation and handling.

(II) Producers and Operators: Controlling Transportation Risks at the Source

1. Compliant Procurement and Certificate/Ticket Collection
   • Establish a list of qualified suppliers. When purchasing food, must select suppliers with legal qualifications, inspect and retain the supplier’s business license, production license, quarantine certificate, product conformity certificate, and other documents;
   • Strictly implement the procurement inspection system, inspect purchased food in terms of sensory characteristics, labels, and packaging to ensure legal food origin and qualified quality;
   • Establish complete procurement records and sales records, detailing information such as food name, specification, quantity, production date, shelf life, supplier name and contact details, and procurement date to realize full-process food traceability.
2. Legal Quarantine and Documented Transportation
   • For producing and operating foods that require quarantine such as livestock, poultry, and aquatic products, must legally declare quarantine to agricultural and rural departments and arrange transportation only after obtaining valid quarantine certificates;
   • When transporting food, must carry complete origin documents and quarantine certificates with the goods, ensure that the document information is consistent with the goods, and shall not forge, alter, or tamper with quarantine certificates;
   • Be responsible for the quality of food during transportation, select compliant transportation enterprises, sign standardized transportation contracts, and clarify the rights, obligations, and food safety responsibilities of both parties.

(III) Regulatory Authorities: Strengthening Supervision Efficiency and Long-Term Mechanisms

1. Improving the Legal and Standard System
   • Combined with the actual development of the food transportation industry, promptly revise and improve relevant laws and regulations, clarify the identification standards, penalty limits, and regulatory responsibilities for foods without legal origin or quarantine certification, and fill regulatory gaps;
   • Formulate food transportation traceability management specifications, electronic information management standards for quarantine certificates, etc., promote the application of electronic quarantine certificates, and realize online verification, traceability, and supervision of quarantine certificates to improve supervision efficiency.
2. Innovating Supervision Methods and Law Enforcement Intensity
   • Build an “Internet + Supervision” model, integrate regulatory data from various departments, and establish a food transportation supervision information platform to realize the sharing and interconnection of information such as origin documents, quarantine certificates, transportation trajectories, and sampling results, improving the accuracy and effectiveness of supervision;
   • Increase the intensity of joint law enforcement, regularly organize special rectification actions by agricultural and rural affairs, market supervision, transportation, public security, and other departments, focusing on cracking down on the transportation of foods without legal origin or quarantine certification to form regulatory synergy;
   • Strictly implement the requirement of “the most severe punishment,” impose severe legal penalties on illegal transportation behaviors in accordance with the law, and resolutely transfer cases involving crimes to judicial organs to form a strong legal deterrent.
3. Strengthening Publicity and Guidance and Social Supervision
   • Through various channels such as media, the Internet, and training, publicize the hazards of foods without legal origin or quarantine certification and relevant laws and regulations, improving the compliance awareness of transportation enterprises, producers and operators, and the self-protection awareness of consumers;
   • Smooth reporting channels, establish a reward system for reports, encourage social forces such as consumers, industry associations, and the media to participate in supervision, and reward those with verified reports to form a good atmosphere of “social co-governance.”

VI. Conclusion

The ban on transporting foods without legal origin or quarantine certification is an important legal guarantee for safeguarding public health, maintaining market order, and ensuring industrial security. The illegal transportation of such foods not only crosses the legal red line but also poses a serious threat to public health and public security. China has established a relatively sound legal system and regulatory mechanism, but to completely curb illegal transportation behaviors, it still requires the joint efforts of transportation enterprises, producers and operators, regulatory authorities, and the general public.

Transportation enterprises should strictly fulfill their main responsibilities, guard the pass of cargo inspection and transportation standardization, and resolutely refuse to transport foods without legal origin or quarantine certification; producers and operators should adhere to the bottom line of compliance, conduct legal procurement, legal quarantine, and documented transportation, and cut off the circulation channels of illegal food at the source; regulatory authorities should continue to strengthen supervision efficiency, innovate supervision methods, increase law enforcement intensity, and weave a dense regulatory network; the general public should improve their self-protection awareness, consciously resist foods without legal origin, and actively participate in supervision and reporting. Only through the joint efforts of all parties can foods without legal origin or quarantine certification have nowhere to hide, promoting the healthy and orderly development of the food transportation industry and building a solid defense line for food safety.