Vietnam - Korea: Cooperation in fighting counterfeit goods, protecting consumer rights

Attending the workshop, on the part of the functional forces in Vietnam, there were the General Department of Market Management, the General Department of Customs, the Department of Intellectual Property and representatives of 13 Departments of Market Management in the provinces and cities in the Northern region. On the part of the Korean representative, there were the Korean Embassy in Vietnam , the Korean Consulate General in Ho Chi Minh City, the Korean Intellectual Property Office (KIPO), the Korean Intellectual Property Protection Agency (KOIPA) and 10 Enterprises representing major brands from Korea.

Speaking at the opening of the workshop, expressing his impression of Vietnam, because of its many cultural and historical similarities with Korea, Mr. Jeong In-Sik, Director of the Korean Intellectual Property Protection and International Cooperation Department, said that these similarities contribute to strongly promoting economic cooperation and cultural exchange between the two countries. This is reflected in the fact that Vietnam is an important and third largest partner of Korea.

According to Mr. Jeong In-Sik, Vietnam is a young, dynamic country with a fast growth rate. Due to the influence of opening up exchanges as well as the rapid development of online transactions, there are more and more counterfeit Korean branded products appearing on the Vietnamese market.

Mr. Jeong In - Sik, Director General of the Korea Intellectual Property Protection and International Cooperation Agency

According to Mr. Jeong In-Sik, the use of counterfeit goods not only affects the economy of businesses but also negatively impacts the health and safety of Vietnamese consumers due to the use of unverified products.

“This is not just a problem of one country but also a problem of the entire global supply chain,” Jeong In-Sik emphasized.

Citing this issue, Mr. Jeong In - Sik said that according to statistics from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development OECD, as of 2021, the amount of counterfeit goods and trademark infringements by Korean companies reached 9.7 billion USD, accounting for 1.5% of export value. According to Mr. Jeong In - Sik, to thoroughly solve this problem, cooperation between countries is needed. Therefore, the event was organized to prevent widespread damage to Korean businesses caused by counterfeit goods, contributing to protecting the health and safety of Vietnamese consumers.

Sharing the same view with the Director of the Korean Intellectual Property Protection and International Cooperation Department, Director General of the General Department of Market Management Tran Huu Linh affirmed that the economic and trade relations between Vietnam and Korea have developed strongly in recent years, which is shown by the fact that Korean products have never been present in Vietnam as much and as popular as they are today.

Director General Tran Huu Linh highly appreciated the initiative of the Korean authorities in coordinating the organization of the conference to help the authorities equip themselves with knowledge in distinguishing genuine from fake goods.

This is a good sign, however, according to General Director Tran Huu Linh, commercial fraud, especially infringement of origin and counterfeiting of Korean brands, is happening more and more.

In recent years, the General Department of Market Management has coordinated with other functional forces in Vietnam to inspect and punish many entities trading in counterfeit Korean products. Therefore, the General Department of Market Management highly appreciates the initiative of the Korean authorities in coordinating with Vietnamese functional forces such as the General Department of Market Management to organize a conference to help law enforcement forces equip themselves with knowledge in early identification of genuine and counterfeit goods when they are mixed into circulation on the market.

“Prevention and early detection of violations and counterfeiting of Korean origin through conferences and seminars are very necessary for functional forces, especially in the context of online shopping becoming popular, because besides the positive aspects, these are also risks for goods in general as well as counterfeit products of Korean origin to be easily distributed in the Vietnamese market,” General Director Tran Huu Linh shared.

In the coming time, the General Department of Market Management commits to working with Vietnamese authorities and Korean enterprises to detect, prevent, and handle cases of fraud of Korean goods.

However, to effectively carry out this task and maintain the trust of foreign investors, including Korean investors, Director General Tran Huu Linh hopes that Korean enterprises as well as Korean Government agencies will regularly maintain contact and promptly update information on Korean products so that functional forces in Vietnam can have favorable conditions to promptly detect violations.

Some products are displayed, introduced and instructed to distinguish between real and fake at the Workshop.

At the Conference, representatives of 10 Korean enterprises such as Everpia, Samsung, aT, Amore, Cuckoo, CJ, Dorco, Lines, Huyndai, Iconix directly shared with representatives of the authorities about the situation of trademark infringement by enterprises in the markets, including Vietnam; thereby providing signs and ways to identify and distinguish genuine and fake goods of each brand, in order to help the authorities detect violations in the market early.

Previously, on the morning of November 6, at the headquarters of the General Department of Market Management, Director General Tran Huu Linh received and worked with the delegation of the Korean Intellectual Property Office (KIPO) and the Korean Intellectual Property Protection Agency (KOIPA) led by Mr. Jeong In-Sik. The main content of the discussion was about the current situation of violations of products and goods with counterfeit origin of Korean brands in the Vietnamese market as well as proposed solutions for implementation in the coming time.

Some other photos at the Workshop: