As we have mentioned in previous articles, the current situation of counterfeit goods trading in Thanh Hoa province is complicated, with increasingly sophisticated tricks, causing significant consequences for the achievements of reputable manufacturers and businesses, weakening the competitiveness of genuine goods in the socio-economic development goals of the country and the province. To rectify this "problem", not only the participation of functional forces but also the cooperation and cooperation of businesses, people and the whole society are needed.
Identify the difficulties
Through market surveys in some localities in the province, counterfeit goods and goods infringing intellectual property rights (IPR) are currently being sold openly, mixed with quality goods, causing confusion for consumers. Counterfeit or "stolen" branded products are all focused on famous brands, trusted by many consumers, in the fields of food, functional foods, clothing, footwear, pharmaceuticals, medical equipment, cosmetics, agricultural supplies, construction materials, electronic equipment, etc. According to the report of the Provincial Steering Committee 389, in the past 3 years, functional forces in the province have handled more than 600 cases related to counterfeit goods. Specifically, in 2022, 206 cases were handled, in 2023, 216 cases were handled, in 2024, 179 cases were handled, the total fine was over 6 billion VND, the value of infringing goods was nearly 4 billion VND.
According to Mr. Le Vinh Quang, Captain of Market Management Team No. 10 (Thanh Hoa Market Management Department), following the direction of the provincial Market Management Department, the unit has developed a plan to inspect and control the trade of counterfeit goods, goods infringing on intellectual property rights, and commercial fraud and achieved positive results. However, the above results are still not as expected, due to certain difficulties, including the fact that "identifying" signs of counterfeiting famous brands and infringement of intellectual property rights has not yet received timely cooperation from some brand owners for handling.
Another reason is that the development of science and technology helps organizations and individuals in production and business activities to apply it to improve management capacity, improve designs, improve quality, and reduce product costs... However, this is also a favorable condition for subjects to apply it to the production and trade of counterfeit goods, infringing on intellectual property rights, making it difficult for consumers and state management agencies to detect genuine and counterfeit goods... The development of e-commerce is very rapid while the management of platforms with sales applications of current suppliers is not strict, not paying attention to quality control and brand of goods that e-commerce platforms sell. In addition, "fraudulent traders" place warehouses in hidden, hard-to-find locations; goods are dispersed, hidden in many places, even sold only through intermediaries... this makes the work of grasping the area, verifying information, checking, and handling also encounter many difficulties...
Responsibility is not one person's alone
It can be seen that, along with the traditional way of selling, the "exploding" e-commerce sector brings many benefits to both sellers and buyers, this is also a "fertile land" for counterfeit goods and goods that infringe on intellectual property rights to thrive. This "problem" not only causes damage to legitimate businesses but also loses the trust of consumers. Faced with the "matrix" of counterfeit goods, what is the effective solution to protect and create a healthy and transparent market?
In the uncompromising "war" against counterfeit goods and goods that violate intellectual property rights, the participation of many social sectors is needed, including coordination and action from state management agencies, businesses and consumers.
For the provincial Market Management Department, in recent times, it has promoted the dissemination of policies and laws on trade and e-commerce to organizations and individuals participating in business activities. In addition, it has regularly signed commitments with production and business establishments to not produce, transport, store, or trade counterfeit goods, goods of unknown origin, or goods that violate intellectual property rights. Along with that, it has organized training and visual guidance to help people distinguish genuine and counterfeit goods; increased inspection of goods gathering locations and warehouses; deployed thematic inspection campaigns, combining the Market Management force, economic police and related parties to promptly detect and handle violations...
In addition, the active participation of enterprises as subjects is also needed. Enterprises need to strictly manage and monitor their goods on the market, apply traceability with labels that cannot be counterfeited or copied; anti-counterfeiting should not be considered the responsibility of law enforcement agencies but should proactively coordinate with competent authorities to conduct inspections, detect and handle according to regulations when counterfeiting or intellectual property rights infringement occurs.
For consumers, it is necessary to equip themselves with skills to check the origin of products, use information retrieval tools provided by businesses such as QR codes or genuine product authentication applications; need to change shopping habits, prioritize choosing reputable distribution channels, refuse to buy infringing goods, actively fight and denounce violations...
Mr. Nguyen Manh Hung, Chairman of the Vietnam Consumer Protection Association, also said that in the "war" against counterfeit goods and goods infringing intellectual property rights, in addition to the drastic participation of authorities, businesses and consumers, it is necessary to review relevant legal regulations to have sanctions to increase deterrence. Along with that, it is necessary to regularly review difficulties and obstacles, especially those related to the place of production, origin of goods, counterfeit goods, goods infringing intellectual property rights, e-commerce activities; promote and attach responsibility to the heads of sectors, functional forces, units, localities at all levels with the results of the work... We must also determine that the "war" against counterfeit goods is not easy. But to build a healthy business environment and always protect consumer rights, it is necessary to have drastic and synchronous participation of authorities, businesses and the self-awareness of consumers. That also aims to protect the image of Vietnamese brands in the eyes of international friends.
PV Group
Source: https://baothanhhoa.vn/chong-hang-gia-cuoc-chien-khong-cua-rieng-ai-bai-cuoi-can-su-chung-tay-240042.htm
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