How is the act of producing counterfeit goods labels and packaging punished?

Reply:Pursuant to Article 12 of Decree 98/2020/ND-CP amended by Point a, b, Clause 8, Article 3 of Decree 17/2022/ND-CP and Clause 7, Article 147 of Decree 96/2023/ND-CP, the penalties for the production of counterfeit goods and packaging of specific goods are as follows:

- For the act of producing counterfeit goods labels and packaging as prescribed in Point d, Clause 7, Article 3 of this Decree, the fine is as follows:

+ A fine of VND 2,000,000 to VND 5,000,000 in case the counterfeit goods are equivalent to the quantity of genuine goods with a value of less than VND 3,000,000 or illegal profits of less than VND 5,000,000;

+ A fine of VND 5,000,000 to VND 8,000,000 in case the counterfeit goods are equivalent to the quantity of genuine goods with a value of VND 3,000,000 to less than VND 5,000,000 or illegal profits from VND 5,000,000 to less than VND 10,000,000;

+ A fine of VND 8,000,000 to VND 15,000,000 in case the counterfeit goods are equivalent to the quantity of genuine goods with a value of VND 5,000,000 to less than VND 10,000,000 or illegal profits from VND 10,000,000 to less than VND 20,000,000;

+ A fine of VND 15,000,000 to VND 25,000,000 in case the counterfeit goods are equivalent to the quantity of genuine goods with a value of VND 10,000,000 to less than VND 20,000,000 or illegal profits from VND 20,000,000 to less than VND 30,000,000;

+ A fine of VND 25,000,000 to VND 40,000,000 in case the counterfeit goods are equivalent to the quantity of genuine goods with a value of VND 20,000,000 to less than VND 30,000,000 or illegal profits from VND 30,000,000 to less than VND 50,000,000;

+ A fine of 40,000,000 VND to 50,000,000 VND in case the counterfeit goods are equivalent to the quantity of genuine goods with a value of 30,000,000 VND or more or illegal profits of 50,000,000 VND or more without being prosecuted for criminal liability.

- A fine of twice the fine levels prescribed in Clause 1 of this Article for one of the following cases of counterfeit goods:

+ Are foods, food additives, food preservatives, food processing aids, drugs, and pharmaceutical ingredients that are not subject to criminal prosecution;

+ Animal feed, aquatic feed, aquaculture environmental treatment products, livestock waste treatment products, fertilizers, veterinary medicines, pesticides, plant varieties, and animal breeds;

+ Cosmetics, medical equipment, detergents, chemicals, insecticides, disinfectants used in household and medical fields, cement, construction steel, helmets.

- Additional penalties:

+ Confiscate the violated objects for violations specified in this Article, except in cases where remedial measures specified in Point a, Clause 4 of this Article are applied;

+ Confiscate means, tools and machinery used to produce counterfeit goods for violations of the provisions of this Article;

+ Revoke the right to use the license, practice certificate or suspend the violating production activities from 03 to 06 months for the violation specified in Point e, Clause 1 of this Article.

- Remedial measures:

+ Force the removal of infringing elements on counterfeit labels and packaging or force the destruction of counterfeit goods for violations of the provisions of this Article;

+ Forced to return illegal profits obtained from committing violations specified in this Article.

* Note: The fine prescribed here is the fine applied to administrative violations committed by individuals. In case the administrative violation is committed by an organization, the fine is twice the fine prescribed for individuals.