Be careful when buying goods during Tet holiday

Although the authorities have made efforts to prevent it, the problem of counterfeit, fake and poor quality goods is still complicated, becoming a constant concern for Ha Tinh consumers, especially during the Tet holiday.

The Lunar New Year is the time when consumption of goods increases, the amount of goods in circulation is large, especially items such as processed foods, confectionery, soft drinks, household goods, fashion items...

This is also the time when people take advantage to smuggle fake, counterfeit, and poor quality goods into the market for illegal profit.

Handbags with brands like Dior, Chanel, C&K... are sold everywhere on the market for several hundred thousand dong.

At traditional markets, stores selling clothes, shoes, handbags, watches, glasses, products with famous brands such as Dior, Chanel, Louis Vuiton, Rolex... are sold for a few hundred thousand dong. Ms. Huong - the owner of a handbag stall at the Ha Tinh City market admitted: "Handbags are mostly for fashion, suitable for clothes, so customers only buy for a few hundred thousand dong. These bags are fake branded goods, while genuine ones cost tens or hundreds of millions of dong."

More worrying are the products in the food and beverage group, directly related to human health, that consumers cannot distinguish between real and fake. Especially in the e-commerce environment, many customers are confused when similar products are sold at different prices, even hundreds of thousands of dong different.

In addition, in the market, especially near Tet, there are many types of candy with similar names to famous brands such as: Damisa (similar to Danisa), Gosy (similar to Cosy), Choco-Pai (similar to Choco-Pie), Custard (similar to Custas)... These products all have the company name, manufacturer address, and self-declared product, so it is difficult to confirm that they are fake or counterfeit goods. However, the designs are similar to major brands, making it easy for consumers to confuse them.

Damisa cake box has the same packaging as the Danisa brand.

From a consumer perspective, Ms. Mai Tran Ngoc Minh (Nguyen Du Ward, Ha Tinh City) said: “Counterfeit goods are always a constant concern for people and in fact, in many provinces and cities, many fake warehouses have been exposed, making consumers even more worried. I and many other consumers mostly buy goods with trust, buy at addresses that we trust, carefully check product information, choose reputable brands. However, if I buy a fake product, no matter how smart I am, it is difficult for me to distinguish it.”

Recently, the authorities have been implementing many measures to detect and handle violations to prevent and handle the transportation and trading of poor quality goods, goods of unknown origin, and trade fraud, contributing to market stability.

For example, on January 29, 2024, Market Management Team No. 4 (under the Market Management Department) coordinated with the Economic Police Team and Cam Xuyen District Police to conduct an inspection and discovered hundreds of expired vermicelli products that violated the law on food safety conditions in the warehouse owned by Mr. THT (Cam Binh Commune, Cam Xuyen).

Working with the authorities, Mr. T. said: Due to the large quantity of imported goods to serve the Lunar New Year of Giap Thin 2024, it is not possible to control all the goods and expiration dates. Currently, the authorities have prepared a dossier to handle according to the provisions of law.

Authorities seized hundreds of expired packages of vermicelli in Mr. THT's warehouse.

Previously, on December 28, 2023, during the inspection, Market Management Team No. 1 discovered that the food store owned by Ms. LTH in Thach Linh Ward (Ha Tinh City) had violated the law by not registering to establish a business household in cases where business registration is required according to regulations and trading 30 packages of ginger jam, 29 packages of longan cakes, and 28 packages of dried corn with lemon leaves of unknown origin. The team imposed an administrative fine of a total of VND 11.5 million and forced the destruction of all infringing evidence.

These are two of many cases that the functional sector has handled in the past time. According to Mr. Nguyen Dinh Khoa - Deputy Director of the Provincial Market Management Department, on November 14, 2023, the Ha Tinh Market Management Department issued a plan on the peak period against smuggling, trade fraud and counterfeit goods in the last months of 2023, before, during and after the Lunar New Year of Giap Thin in 2024. Accordingly, the Market Management teams are directed to ensure the maximum number of staff on duty 24/7 before, during and after Tet; resolutely inspect and control the market, strictly handle violations, especially for essential goods with high consumption demand during Tet.

As a result of inspection and handling, the unit has so far discovered nearly 120 violations, imposed administrative fines of nearly 550 million VND; confiscated and destroyed violating goods worth over 240 million VND (including 7,900 kg of sugar, 576 cosmetic products and many other violating goods). The main violations include: transporting and trading in smuggled goods, goods of unknown origin, counterfeit goods, goods violating food safety...

On January 22, 2024, Market Management Team No. 6 coordinated with the Traffic Police Department and the Provincial Police to discover more than 500 smuggled cosmetic products circulating through the area.

Authorities have determined that although they have inspected and discovered many violations of smuggled goods, counterfeit goods, and goods of unknown origin, the situation remains complicated.

Counterfeit, fake and poor quality goods affect the health and economy of consumers, the reputation and brand of legitimate businesses, seriously affecting the business environment and consumer confidence. However, in reality, counterfeit and poor quality goods still "survive", partly due to the sophisticated tricks of dishonest producers and traders. But partly because consumers still prefer cheap goods and do not pay much attention to goods.

The Provincial People's Council's supervision delegation supervises law enforcement in market management in the area.

Mr. Nguyen Dinh Khoa said: Although efforts have been made to prevent smuggled goods, counterfeit goods, fake goods, and trade fraud, the inspection and handling of violations by the authorities still face many difficulties. Methods and tricks of smuggling and trade fraud are increasingly sophisticated. The process of handling counterfeit goods is quite complicated, seized goods must be sent to the business or representative unit for confirmation, so it takes a long time. Especially for online business, warehouses are not located in the province, there is no specific business location, so when consumers complain, it is very difficult to handle.

Along with the efforts of the authorities, each citizen needs to raise their vigilance in choosing and using goods. Authorities recommend that consumers should choose stores with clear addresses, and before buying any product, they must carefully study product information, from uses, instructions for use... If they suspect or detect violations, people need to immediately report to the authorities to prevent commercial fraud and protect the rights of consumers.

Loan Tram

Source: https://baohatinh.vn/thuong-mai-dich-vu/can-trong-khi-mua-hang-hoa-nhung-ngay-ap-tet/261363.htm