Strengthen the fight against smuggling and trade fraud

(Baonghean.vn) - On the morning of January 29, the National Steering Committee 389 on combating smuggling, trade fraud and counterfeit goods held an online conference to review the work of 2014 and deploy tasks for 2015. Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc - Head of the National Steering Committee 389 chaired the conference.

Chairing at the Nghe An province bridge was comrade Le Xuan Dai - Member of the Provincial Party Committee, Permanent Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee.

Comrade Nguyen Xuan Phuc - Deputy Prime Minister, Head of National Steering Committee 389 directed the Conference.

According to the Report of the Standing Office of the National Steering Committee 389, in 2014, the situation of smuggling, trade fraud and counterfeit goods still had complicated developments nationwide.

The situation of smuggling and illegal transportation of goods across borders, road and railway gates still creates hot spots. Emerging in the provinces of Cao Bang, Lao Cai, Dien Bien, Lang Son, Quang Ninh, Nghe An... Violating goods are mainly drugs, firecrackers, violent toys, alcohol, beer, cigarettes, soft drinks, electronic toys, refrigeration, forest products, wild animals...

On the sea routes, international seaports and river ports, since October 2014, smuggling and illegal transportation of goods have tended to increase. The most prominent activities in the Northeast and Central sea areas are the smuggling of foreign alcohol, cigarettes, gasoline, oil; and the smuggling of coal and various types of ores.

International air routes and post offices have also recorded many cases of smuggling goods. The most concentrated are cosmetics, mobile phones, watches, digital cameras, laptops, foreign currency, gold, etc. Notably, many subjects have taken advantage of air routes to illegally transport drugs, precursors, pharmaceuticals, wildlife products, etc.

Comrade Vu Huy Hoang - Minister of Industry and Trade speaking at the Conference

Overview of Nghe An bridge

Hanoi City Delegates report on the results of the fight against smuggling and trade fraud.

Faced with that situation, in 2014, under the direction of the National Steering Committee 389, ministries, branches and localities resolutely directed functional forces to organize the fight, detect and arrest many violations. The results were the detection and handling of 206,642 violations (an increase of 12.11%) compared to 2013, handling the collection of over 13 trillion VND to the state budget, prosecuting 2,081 criminal cases and 2,275 subjects.

In Nghe An, the authorities and functional forces have inspected 34,863 cases, handled 11,650 cases, and imposed fines of more than VND286 billion. Notably, in Nghe An, the situation of illegal transportation and trafficking of drugs is still complicated. In 2014, the authorities discovered and seized 74 cakes and 1,866.76 grams of heroin; 300 grams and 1,375 pills of synthetic drugs, 41 kilograms of opium, 01 cake and 300 grams of marijuana.

At the conference, many delegates who are members of Steering Committee 389 of localities reported on the implementation of the work against smuggling, trade fraud and counterfeit goods in 2014 as well as proposed ideas to effectively combat this work.

Comrade Le Xuan Dai directed the bridge point in Nghe An

Speaking at the conference, Comrade Nguyen Xuan Phuc - Deputy Prime Minister affirmed: In 2014, under the leadership and direction of the Party Committee and the Government at all levels, Vietnam has achieved many important victories, including the contribution of forces on the front line against smuggling and trade fraud. Bringing the political system at all levels into action with the very active support of the people. Many serious cases in recent times have been discovered, investigated and clarified, contributing to building trust among the people.

The Deputy Prime Minister highly appreciated and commended the achievements of the entire force on the front of fighting against smuggled goods, counterfeit goods and trade fraud. However, Comrade Nguyen Xuan Phuc also mentioned the shortcomings in this work. That is, a few local Party committees and authorities have not fully understood, leading to a lack of determination in directing and handling the situation of transporting, trading in smuggled goods, producing counterfeit goods and trade fraud; for personal gain, some officials have turned a blind eye and loosened management; there is still a phenomenon of officials in functional forces abusing their positions and powers to profit, assisting smugglers and trade fraudsters.

The Deputy Prime Minister requested that it is necessary to raise awareness of political tasks in the fight against smuggling and trade fraud. Steering Committee 389 at all levels must constantly improve the effectiveness of their work to clearly identify the methods and tricks of the subjects. Each sector, unit and locality must have specific solutions to synchronously and resolutely implement the 2015 plan and tasks; forces need to strongly attack the centers of brokers, launch a movement for the whole population to denounce smuggling, trade fraud and counterfeit goods. Wherever smuggling and trade fraud continue to occur, the head of that locality and sector must take responsibility. Sectors need to review the regulations on penalties, from administrative sanctions to criminal prosecution. Continue to perfect institutions and policies, and assign the Ministry of Finance to supplement funding so that anti-smuggling and trade fraud forces can operate better.

Dao Tuan