The information was released at a seminar entitled “Joining hands to fight against contraband and counterfeit goods, protecting corporate brands and consumers’ interests”, held in Ho Chi Minh City on December 2.
The event saw the presence of representatives of the leaders of the General Department of Customs, the National Steering Committee 389, Border Guard forces, Public Security forces, the Market Management forces of southern provinces, Ho Chi Minh City Consumer Protection Association and enterprises.
The authorities said that, despite the prevention and arrest of many cases of violations, the smuggling and trading of counterfeit goods are still happening very complicatedly throughout the country, especially in big cities and localities sharing land border gates with neighbouring countries.
According to the report of the National Steering Committee 389, functional forces detected and handled nearly 100,000 cases of violations in the first 10 months of 2022, including 12,275 cases of smuggling and illegal transportation of banned and contraband goods, 82,678 cases of commercial fraud and tax fraud, and 1,866 cases of counterfeit goods and intellectual property violations. About 7.66 trillion VND was recovered to contribute to the State budget, while 380 cases involving 472 subjects were prosecuted.
In particular, as of October 15, the customs sector detected and arrested a total of 13,720 cases of violations, with the value of goods estimated at 4.79 trillion VND, recovering over 256 billion VND to the State budget. The customs forces prosecuted 35 cases and transferred 113 cases to other agencies to prosecute.
Deputy Director General of the General Department of Customs Nguyen Van Tho said that, as a member of the National Steering Committee 389, the General Department of Customs has actively advised and proposed many solutions and submitted plans to the Committee on combating smuggling, trade fraud, and illegal transportation of goods across borders, sea areas and inland areas.
At the same time, the customs sector focuses resources on the implementation of professional customs control measures, to strengthen inspection and control at routes and locations with a concentration on prohibited items, goods of great value and high tax rates, especially on the occasion before, during and after the Lunar New Year 2023.
Lawyer Phan Thi Viet Thu, Chairwoman of the Ho Chi Minh City Consumer Protection Association, said that to protect the interests of consumers and businesses, the completion of regulations of the law is the first resolute condition, especially the regulations related to the origin of goods.
At the same time, it is necessary to strengthen the market survey to detect and prevent counterfeit products from entering the distribution system, in addition to close coordination with market management forces and economic police, to promptly grasp information about counterfeit products on the market, to seek legal support and handle counterfeit goods thoroughly, Thu noted.
It is the responsibility of consumers to buy goods with a clear origin so that they can protect themselves when using products with quality problems.
The cooperation to fight against counterfeit and contraband goods is the responsibility of the whole society and also the right of enterprises. Enterprises must actively cooperate with the functional agencies to take advantage of sanctions by following the law promptly, Thu added.
