Flooded with goods of unknown origin
At the end of the year, at a store specializing in selling foreign wines in Thai Hoa town, I saw a variety of Chivas 12, Chivas 18, Massimo gori, Mario, Vientonorte... with prices ranging from 700,000 - 1.5 million VND/bottle. According to the store owner, the products are foreign wines, customers can buy as much as they want, with full stamps and labels.
However, when asking for an invoice, the shop owner said: “These are mostly genuine hand-carried goods, there is no invoice…”. Mr. Tran Van Minh, a resident of Thai Hoa town, shared: “In reality, it is difficult to distinguish which foreign wine is real or fake. We only see the beautiful appearance, reasonable price, and we buy it as a gift for Tet because we are familiar with it.”
At Hieu market, Thai Hoa town and some other markets, you will see stalls selling famous cosmetics such as Lancome, 3D Fatastic lipstick, Byphasse Solution Micellaire makeup remover and many other cosmetics such as skin whitening cream, powder, acne treatment cream... sold for only a few tens of thousands to a few hundred thousand VND/product.
According to observations, most of the products do not have any instructions in Vietnamese, but according to the sellers, these are "hand-carried" goods brought back by relatives from abroad so there is no Vietnamese, the goods here are reputable, if you bring them back to use and there is anything wrong, we will compensate you double.
Through investigation, it is known that some other cosmetic stores in Dien Chau and Yen Thanh districts also sell genuine products with circulation licenses mixed with smuggled and fake products to deceive consumers. In addition, many types of cosmetics of unknown origin are also introduced by the owners as "hand-carried" products, bearing famous brands from Japan, Korea, Germany, France, Canada, etc., making consumers easily believe and spend money to buy them at high prices.
On the occasion of Lunar New Year, the market for all kinds of confectionery has increased sharply compared to normal days. Worryingly, many types of confectionery of unknown origin, violating labels... are sold widely in markets, shops, kiosks in every corner of the countryside, posing a potential risk of food safety during Tet for consumers.
At Tan Ky market area, Lat town, Tan Ky district, many types of cakes and candies, most of which do not have labels of origin. Many of which are placed in plastic trays and baskets, in plastic bags. Cakes and candies priced from 80,000 - 150,000 VND/kg... are advertised as imported from large cake and candy manufacturing companies. Most of the cake and candy stalls have customers coming to buy. Customers coming to buy here are mainly those who buy wholesale to retail in the hamlets.
The commercial center area of Tan Ky town sells many types of goods. Aluminum, plastic, ceramic, porcelain, and electrical appliances for Tet are quite messy. Most of them are cheap, convenient, and diverse, which is easy to see in this item. For example, the non-stick aluminum pan costs 120,000 VND/piece but has no stamp or label.
Electric rice cookers cost 450,000 VND/unit, electric kettles cost 200,000 VND/unit... In addition, near Tet, there are many fake branded products with unknown origins such as clothes, helmets, fish sauce, MSG, laundry detergent... In Vinh city, there are many supermarkets, but many products are said to be hand-carried by the owners and often do not have Vietnamese subtitles or invoices.
Strengthening the fight against counterfeit goods and commercial fraud during Tet
According to the report of Nghe An Market Management Department, in 2023, Nghe An Market Management Department handled 3,023 cases, collecting 6 billion VND to the state budget.
Recently, Nghe An authorities have continuously detected and handled many cases of trading in smuggled goods, counterfeit goods, and goods of unknown origin. Typically, in early December 2023, Vinh City Police inspected 63 kiosks, discovered 32 violating kiosks, and seized nearly 5,000 confectionery products of unknown origin.
On December 18, 2023, Market Management Team No. 3 coordinated with the Economic and Environmental Police Department - Provincial Police to inspect Ngoc Khang Clean Food Import-Export Company Limited (located at Mai Loc hamlet, Hung Dong commune, Vinh city, Nghe An). Discovered that this enterprise was trading 523 kg of frozen pork products of unknown origin. The authorities imposed an administrative fine of 50 million VND and forced the destruction of all violating goods.
Mr. Nguyen Hong Phong - Deputy Director of Nghe An Market Management Department said: The time before Tet is the time when smuggling, trade fraud, production and trade of counterfeit goods are most complicated in the year. There are many items counterfeited by the subjects including: Wine, beer, shirts, pants, shoes, sandals, hats, cosmetics, jewelry, watches...
In particular, counterfeit goods, poor quality goods, and goods of unknown origin are sold on e-commerce platforms and social networking sites. Meanwhile, many consumers have a cheap mentality and are easily taken advantage of by these subjects.
To effectively carry out the work of combating smuggling, trade fraud and counterfeit goods, especially during the Lunar New Year. Nghe An functional sectors including the Market Management Department, Police, Border Guards and localities have strengthened market inspection and control and strictly handled violations of speculation, hoarding, price listing, e-commerce, business, transportation. Storing prohibited goods, smuggled goods, goods of unknown origin, counterfeit goods, goods infringing intellectual property rights, poor quality goods, and trade fraud.
Focus on checking essential goods and goods with high consumer demand during the end of the year and Lunar New Year such as electronics, refrigeration, clothing, footwear, confectionery, sugar, fruit, cigarettes, new generation cigarettes, alcohol, beer, soft drinks, fresh food, gasoline, and gas.
Coordinate and exchange information with functional forces of the Police, Customs, and Border Guard to effectively organize and implement the fight against smuggling and trade fraud in border areas, seaports, airports, warehouses, cargo gathering points, and domestic markets.
In addition, the Department of Industry and Trade focuses on monitoring and evaluating the supply and demand of goods, especially essential goods, goods with high demand or high price fluctuations in the area. Proactively develop plans or propose to competent authorities measures to ensure balance between supply and demand, stabilize the market, and prevent shortages and disruptions in the supply of goods, causing sudden price increases during the end of the year and Lunar New Year.
To strengthen solutions against counterfeit goods, fake goods, and commercial fraud, in addition to the drastic intervention of functional forces, consumers should only buy goods at businesses with clear addresses, or use barcode origin checking software to determine the origin of goods.
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