(Ecns.cn)--Wal-mart ran into trouble again recently due to the discovery of 63,547 kilograms of fake green pork being sold in 12 stores in Chongqing, a municipality in southwest China.
According to the Chongqing Morning Post, among the series of penalties imposed on the supermarket giant, the latest punishment announced last Saturday by the local food security bureau was the harshest. In addition to the confiscation of the illegal income, Wal-mart was also sentenced to a fine of five times the illegal income of about 2,699,170 yuan ($423,432), and 12 stores were suspended, according to Huang Bo, director general of the local Industrial and Commercial Bureau.
Unlike its highly respected reputation in other regions, Wal-mart has been a chronic headache to the Chongqing government since 2006, when it first entered the local market. Over the past five years, 21 sentences of various kinds have been imposed on the supermarket because of sales of food that either passed its expiration date or failed to meet safety standards.
However, none of these fines seemed to warn the popular supermarket. Twelve of its branches in Chongqing even started selling fake green organic pork, which led to seven written notices by the Industrial and Commercial Bureau, urging an investigation into the case. Again, not a single notice worked until the severe punishment was announced two days ago.
The move by the government has thrilled local residents, who upon visiting the nearest store in the morning, found seven of them already closed. "This is a good call. Somebody has to teach the supermarket a lesson," Ms. Zhang, a regular but unsatisfied customer to Wal-mart, was quoted as saying in the newspaper. Many customers showed their support, but also expressed their hope for an improvement in the supermarket.
