Lack of coordination in handling counterfeit goods

A thousand ways to… copy

At Dien Thanh market (Dien Chau), on a day at the end of the year, goods were displayed in abundance. At a cosmetics booth, we were introduced to perfume samples of famous world brands but the price was only 200,000 - 300,000 VND/bottle.

The shop owner admitted: “Here we do not buy genuine goods because genuine goods are expensive, millions of dong are very difficult to sell, not many people have money to buy”. Passing by a counter selling consumer goods and electrical appliances, we saw some rice cookers labeled Cuckoo with function keys written in Vietnamese but misspelled. The shop owner enthusiastically said: “Buy the pot, it costs 900,000 VND but I will only charge 700,000 VND. When asked for the warranty card, the owner immediately said: Just bring it home to cook, if there is any problem, bring it to me for warranty, don't worry (?!)”.

Counterfeit foreign perfumes on sale at Dien Thanh market, Dien Chau. Photo: Thu Huyen

In the mountainous districts of Tuong Duong, Ky Son, or Quy Hop, finding fake branded goods is not difficult. Ms. Ha Thi Long in Mon Son commune, Con Cuong shared: Although she knows that buying the above products is contributing to the problem of fake and counterfeit goods, there is no other way. Because many products, women here are not familiar with genuine goods and often know that genuine and genuine goods are too expensive compared to the living standards of the people...

In Vinh city, entering an electronics store on Quang Trung street, it was not difficult for us to detect a fake fruit blender of a famous brand. The store owner did not hide: This fake product is only 170,000 VND, while the real one is more than 300,000 VND.

According to the authorities, the main methods of trading counterfeit goods are to divide them into small pieces and transport them during peak hours or at night or early in the morning to avoid inspection by the authorities. Legalizing smuggled goods by using sales invoices that do not match the actual price (the subjects often use sales invoices that state the full range of types and quantities of goods, but the value of the goods is often lower than the actual price); using fake invoices, rotating invoices for many shipments. The most common types of counterfeit goods are cosmetics, chemical cosmetics, sanitary equipment, household electrical appliances, fashion items, etc.

Counterfeit cosmetics were seized by authorities. Photo: Thu Huyen

Many cases of manufacturing and trading counterfeit goods of protected trademarks and industrial designs have been detected and handled by the authorities. That is the case of a bottled water business in Vinh city counterfeiting bottled water labels. The case was uncovered by an inspection team led by the Department of Science and Technology, in coordination with the Department of Health Inspectorate and the Market Management Department in April 2019.

Previously, on January 7, the Economic and Drug Police Team, Dien Chau District Police discovered Ms. Pham Thi Thuy, residing in Xuan Chau Hamlet, Dien Kim Commune, packaging 260 kg of counterfeit laundry detergent; on April 23, 2019, Market Management Team No. 11 inspected the ceramic tile business establishment of Nghe An Insurance Company Limited on Ho Xuan Huong Street, Vinh City. Through the inspection, it was discovered that the store was selling 1,920 boxes of ceramic tiles that infringed on the protected trademark rights.

Many cases of counterfeit production and trading have been detected and handled by the authorities. In addition, there have been many cases of goods being produced that do not meet the registered quality standards. That was the inspection of more than 3,000 bottles of fish sauce of Long Hai Company at a kiosk in Dong Vinh Ward, Vinh City, which did not meet the announced quality standards. On November 18, 2019, the Market Management Agency completed the dossier, drew up a record of administrative violations and transferred it to the Nghe An Market Management Department to issue a decision to impose an administrative fine of 50 million VND for the act of trading in counterfeit goods, which have no use value or function according to the provisions of law, and forced the destruction of all violating goods.

Market management forces inspect confectionery at Vinh market. Photo: Thu Huyen

According to the summary of Steering Committee 389, in the first 10 months of 2019, Nghe An detected 7,720 cases with more than 8,000 subjects, of which 7,382 cases were handled for administrative violations, 338 cases were prosecuted, with a total fine of 212.541 billion VND (a decrease of more than 24 billion VND compared to the same period in 2018). In particular, the Department of Science and Technology, in 2019, through inspection, discovered 30 substandard samples, including: 13 bottled water samples, 5 gasoline samples, 1 diesel oil sample, 2 plastic-coated electric wire samples, 9 gold jewelry samples; administrative violations were fined with a total amount of nearly 500 million VND...

Whose responsibility is it?

The complicated situation of smuggling, trade fraud and counterfeit goods is always a hot topic of public concern, but detection and handling face many difficulties.

According to the officer of the Economic Police Department, the Provincial Police, the difficulty is that many businesses that are counterfeited do not dare to speak up because they are afraid that consumers will boycott their products when they discover that their products are counterfeit and switch to other brands. Businesses that are in violation do not cooperate, and the quality assessment of goods faces many difficulties... which is the basis for counterfeit goods, copyright infringement, and commercial fraud to thrive.

Counterfeit goods sold on the market and some counterfeit BQ brand shoes were seized and destroyed by the market management agency. Photo: Thu Huyen

The situation of smuggling, trade fraud and counterfeit goods is extremely complicated in both scale and nature, affecting domestic production, causing budget losses and damage to legitimate businesses and consumers.

The Market Management Agency admits that the management of areas and business entities is not strict and comprehensive; the propaganda, guidance and dissemination of laws on commercial, industrial and service business are not regular and continuous, the content is limited and the effectiveness is not high, especially in remote areas and ethnic minority areas. The management of markets, restaurants, hotels, tourist attractions, festivals, temples and pagodas regarding prices, origin and quality of goods is not strict.

Destroying counterfeit goods, fake goods, and commercial fraud. Photo: Thu Huyen

Faced with that reality, representatives of relevant departments and agencies called for “consumer wisdom”, saying: Preventing and combating counterfeit goods requires the joint efforts of the whole society; Consumers need to detect and denounce the production and trade of counterfeit goods so that the authorities can intervene. People also need to raise their consumer awareness, not to use goods of unknown origin, floating goods...

On the other hand, it must be said that the complicated situation of counterfeit and fake goods is also the responsibility of the assigned authorities, of the Steering Committee 389. According to the assessment, this committee has not been operating effectively; each force is doing its own thing, lacking coordination in inspection and handling. When an incident occurs in the area, blame is placed on each other, and only consumers suffer.

The Provincial Steering Committee 389 needs to have an annual plan to regularly investigate and survey the situation and developments of rights violations in practice by organizing and arranging for officials to penetrate the markets of specific areas, in order to have proactive combat plans. In addition, it is required to have regulations on coordination methods and this method must be effectively implemented in practice to ensure unity, responsibility and effectiveness of enforcement forces, avoiding overlapping, pushing, waiting, stepping on each other's toes or doing things on their own.

Mr. Nguyen Manh Ha - Chief Inspector of Department of Science and Technology.