Counterfeit goods rampant in rural markets

(Baonghean) - Although the authorities have made great efforts in the fight against counterfeit and fake goods, the situation is still increasing and becoming more complicated, especially in rural markets.

Many foods of unknown origin

Currently, unlabeled, unexpired goods are quite common in rural markets such as candy, fish sauce, sugar, MSG... At Thi Tran Dung market (Thanh Chuong), there are many "3 no" candy shops: no label, unknown origin, no expiration date. These types of candy are sold in "packs" at cheap prices, around 20,000 - 25,000 VND/kg. Chocolate cake is "imitation" as Chocolateball, priced at only 25,000 VND/pack, Acosy cake is imitation of Cosy biscuits... A saleswoman said: "The criteria for buying candy of most rural consumers is first of all that it must be affordable, so we also import cheap types for easy sale".

Officers of the Market Management Department coordinated an inspection at an agency in Dien Chau district.

At Dung Town Market, there is still a "chaos" of spices and flavorings, most of which are floating goods with Chinese labels, such as beef stew seasoning, five-spice powder priced from only 1,500 VND/package. Recently, the market has also seen a type of baking powder originating from China, which is bought a lot by consumers to make fried dough sticks, bread, donuts... One woman even said that this powder is also used to soften pig's feet and bones, without them falling apart.

MSG of unknown origin sold at Cong Thanh market (Yen Thanh).

At Roc market in Trung Thanh commune (Yen Thanh), there are 2 shops selling fish sauce in unhygienic plastic bags, priced from 8,000 - 10,000 VND/liter. At a shop in Cong Thanh market (Yen Thanh), MSG is sold, but it is unclear whether it is from China or Thailand, because the owner of the shop claims that the MSG is from Thailand, but the packaging is written entirely in Chinese.

Counterfeit branded electrical and household appliances

If in the past, fake, counterfeit, and poor quality goods only appeared when genuine goods were scarce, now genuine and counterfeit goods exist side by side, competing for market share with genuine goods by virtue of low prices and quickly penetrating the market, especially in rural areas. We went to a refrigeration goods dealer (no signboard) opposite the Thanh Chuong Agricultural and Rural Development Bank (Dung Town), and observed that the most common products were rice cookers, originating from many different brands, not knowing which were real or fake. The owner was generous: “Goods made in Japan cost from 1 - 2 million VND/unit. Goods made in Southeast Asia such as: Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia, Philippines... cost from 500,000 - 700,000 VND/unit. If you need to buy cheap Japanese goods, there are also, priced at only 400,000 VND.

At our request, the owner brought out a TOSILBA rice cooker. If the buyer is not careful, the idea of ​​a genuine pot is that it is actually a copy of the letter I to the letter L, which means that the real TOSHIBA pot is copied to TOSILBA. Looking closely, we saw that this "copy" pot did not state the place of manufacture and did not have a product warranty. When we asked the owner, we were given a concise answer: This is a "joint venture" pot. This shop also has many "copy" water heaters of famous Japanese brands such as the Panasonic "copy" "Panasionic" (with an additional letter i) which are cheaper than genuine products, only 150,000 - 200,000 VND/bottle.

In Dien Chau, there are also many low-quality gas stoves. Near Dien Thai market, we saw gas stove dealers that mostly imitated Japanese brands. For example, Rinnai gas stoves were imitated as RUINAI, lacking safety devices and no heat sensor. At Hien Hoa refrigeration store, Cong Thanh commune (Yen Thanh), Fujnai gas stoves imitated the Japanese Rinnai brand.

Strong measures needed

Mr. Nguyen Viet Thien, Head of the Department of Industry and Trade of Thanh Chuong district added: Since the beginning of the year, the district has only established an interdisciplinary team including the Department of Health, the District Health Center, and the Department of Industry and Trade to inspect food safety at 6 establishments in the area. As for the issue of combating trade fraud and counterfeit goods, it has not been possible to establish an inspection team due to limited resources.

Mr. Nguyen Manh Hung, Captain of Market Management Team No. 8, also said: The team is assigned to manage the markets of Hung Nguyen, Nam Dan, and Thanh Chuong districts. The problem of fighting counterfeit and fake goods is very difficult because traders use many sophisticated and cunning tricks. For example, electronic and refrigeration products are very difficult to check with the naked eye, they must be inspected by the authorities to know whether they are real or fake. In the first 10 months of the year, the team has handled over 100 violations, mainly violations of price listing, product labels, counterfeit and fake goods.

Mr. Nguyen Van Thang, Deputy Head of the Provincial Market Management Department, said: The number of violations of trade fraud and counterfeit goods compared to the same period has not increased, but has tended to be more complicated. Some counterfeit goods such as soft drinks, candy, MSG, washing powder, household electrical appliances, etc. are often secretly brought into consumption in remote areas and traditional markets. In addition, smugglers, trade fraudsters, producers and traders of counterfeit goods in the province use many methods such as: hiding goods in many different locations; connecting with production households to conceal information; dividing goods for transportation. The difficulty is that the staff is thin, equipment and means for the fight against these acts have not met the requirements of the task. Some local authorities have not had good coordination in the fight against trade fraud.

Vuong Tran