Nghe An: Many wards and communes resolutely fight against smuggling and trade fraud

Identify the situation

Recently, although the authorities have regularly organized campaigns, inspections and controls, the situation of smuggling and trade fraud in the province still has many unpredictable developments.

Typically, on September 21, Truong Vinh Ward Police coordinated with Market Management Team No. 3, Market Management Department to conduct an inspection at a frozen facility (belonging to Viet-Duc Food Trading Company Limited) in Vinh Tan 1 block, Truong Vinh Ward, owned by Mr. TSĐ (born in 1979, residing in Thanh Vinh Ward, Nghe An Province). Through the inspection, 3,600 frozen chicken feet, 500 cheese sausages, 500 sour pork rolls were discovered, packed in paper bags, sacks, without labels, no information about the place of production, expiry date. The owner of the facility could not present invoices or documents proving the origin of the goods.

Previously, on September 17, the Police Department for Investigation of Economic Crimes, Corruption, Smuggling and Environment, Nghe An Provincial Police coordinated with functional forces to simultaneously inspect moon cake businesses in the area. Through inspection, the functional forces discovered and handled 2 moon cake businesses on Cao Xuan Huy Street and Nguyen Van Cu Street (both in Truong Vinh Ward), confiscating 4,174 moon cakes of unknown origin.

In May 2025, the Police Department for Investigation of Economic Crimes, Corruption, Smuggling and Environmental Crimes, Nghe An Provincial Police also coordinated with Market Management Team No. 1 (Nghe An Market Management Department), inspected the truck with license plate 37C-441.xx driven by NVH (born in 1994, residing in the old Quynh Luu district) and discovered nearly 480,000 products without invoices proving their origin. The exhibits included more than 400,000 fake shampoo packages of famous brands, 6,000 fake Comfort fabric softener packages, nearly 1,300 tubes of toothpaste and 63,000 pens. The total value of the shipment is estimated at about 523 million VND.

After expanding the investigation, the authorities identified PTS (born in 1962, residing in Hanoi) as the mastermind, specializing in collecting counterfeit goods from the Northern hubs and then distributing them to agents in the Central region, especially in remote areas. Immediately after that, the Police Department initiated a case and prosecuted 4 suspects for the act of "Trading in counterfeit goods".

Mr. Nguyen Van Huong - Head of Nghe An Market Management Department said: In fact, the items that are often counterfeited and imitated are mainly food, medicine, functional food, cosmetics, electronics, household appliances, etc. Notably, the situation of goods of unknown origin, without legal invoices and documents is still common, causing budget loss, creating an unhealthy competitive environment and threatening consumer safety.

When local authorities intervene

Although the situation of smuggling and trade fraud is still complicated, in recent times, a series of wards and communes in the province have joined forces, creating a strong momentum in the fight against smuggling and trade fraud. This shows that when authority and responsibility are clearly defined, the local authorities have been more proactive, closely following the local reality, promptly detecting and handling violations.

Truong Vinh Ward is a bustling trading center of the province. With Vinh market located here, recently, the work of preventing and combating smuggling and trade fraud has been carried out with close coordination between many forces.

Mr. Nguyen Ngoc Phong - Vice Chairman of Truong Vinh Ward People's Committee said: After the new government was established, the ward proactively developed an inspection plan, coordinated with the Market Management Team and Ward Police to strengthen inspection and strictly handle violations related to the production and trading of goods.

Thanks to this coordination, many violations such as trading in goods of unknown origin, trading in counterfeit and fake goods have been detected and handled promptly. In addition to making records and imposing administrative penalties, the forces also coordinate propaganda and raise awareness among people and business households about the harmful effects of smuggling and trade fraud. This approach both ensures deterrence and contributes to building a transparent and stable business environment in the ward.

In Quynh Luu commune - a new administrative unit established on the basis of merging Cau Giat town, Quynh Hau, Quynh Dien, Quynh Giang and Binh Son communes, we see that the fight against smuggling and trade fraud has also had clear changes.

Mr. Nguyen Minh Thanh - Head of the Economic Department of Quynh Luu Commune said: Recently, implementing the direction of the Provincial Steering Committee 389, the Commune People's Committee has coordinated with the police and market management forces to advise on the issuance of a plan to inspect, monitor, and handle smuggling and trade fraud... in the area in 2025.

Mr. Thanh also emphasized that when implementing a two-level local government, localities should be closer to production and business establishments, grasp the situation faster, and promptly detect violations.

As a result, during a recent inspection, the People's Committee of Quynh Luu Commune discovered a number of cases of selling goods of unknown origin and without full invoices and documents. The authorities have drawn up records and fined 8 cases of administrative violations, with a total fine of more than 10 million VND. Although the value is not large, this is a clear demonstration of the close and drastic measures of the local authorities in market management.

Mr. Nguyen Van Huong - Head of Nghe An Market Management Department added: Previously, the inspection and handling of smuggling and trade fraud... were usually carried out by the Market Management force or the Police, through the districts and then down to the grassroots level for inspection. Currently, when the local government has just come into operation, thanks to its close proximity to the grassroots level, local governments have been more proactive in inspecting, monitoring and handling smuggling and trade fraud.

It can be seen that, no longer waiting and depending on superiors, many communes and wards have built their own periodic inspection plans, closely coordinating with the Police, Market Management and other functional forces. Thanks to that, many violations have been detected early, handled promptly, and at the same time, combined with propaganda to raise people and business households' awareness of law compliance. This is an important change, contributing to restoring order in the market and affirming the effectiveness of innovation in the State management model.