Beware of counterfeit goods disguised as genuine goods.

The demand for essential goods increases day by day. However, the time of Tet is also an opportunity for traders to mix fake goods with genuine ones to deceive buyers.

Floating cakes, jams, fake milk…

On January 22, according to information from the Market Management Department of Ho Chi Minh City, the Market Management teams have just launched a campaign to simultaneously inspect 3 business locations in District 1, District 3 and Phu Nhuan, seizing hundreds of kilograms of floating food and counterfeit branded goods. Specifically, the Market Management force coordinated with the Police of Ward 5, District 3 to conduct an inspection and discovered that the TL business located on Nguyen Thuong Hien Street was storing 230 kilograms of floating soft ginger jam (without stating the origin, expiry date, product label...). In Phu Nhuan District, the Market Management force coordinated with the Police of Ward 8 to inspect the GH business location on Truong Quoc Dung Street, discovering many pre-packaged packages (including dried apples, cashews, walnuts...) without invoices, documents, or Vietnamese sub-labels.

According to some social networking sites, many Tet confectionery products with names quite similar to many famous domestic and international brands are sold at cheap prices, only 30%-40% of the price of genuine products. Of course, these are just fake brands, "copying" genuine products. For example, Damisa (the real product is Danisa), Oreon (the real product is Oreo)... "Counterfeit products are widespread, with very cheap prices, making consumers feel lost in a maze. Normally, these products are brought to suburban areas and remote provinces to sell to people. We are very upset about such blatant customer fraud, not to mention the quality of confectionery, whether it is safe or not is also a matter of concern", said the leader of a business specializing in confectionery.

HCM City Market Management Force inspects a batch of confectionery and jam floating in the city. Photo: THI HONG

Peak inspection, drastic handling

There are only more than 2 weeks left until Lunar New Year. This is also the peak time for the interdisciplinary functional forces in Ho Chi Minh City to inspect and handle violations and trade fraud. According to Mr. Truong Van Ba, Director of the Ho Chi Minh City Market Management Department, the unit is coordinating with related units (police, districts, etc.) to strengthen supervision and handle violations, ensuring stability of the consumer goods market, especially essential goods, in Ho Chi Minh City. In particular, the Market Management force focuses on reviewing and monitoring livestream sales sessions to find out the sources of smuggled goods, counterfeit brands... For traditional markets, supermarkets, small retail stores... in Ho Chi Minh City, the Ho Chi Minh City Market Management force said that they regularly propagate and raise awareness to sellers, guiding small traders to sell goods with guaranteed quality and clear origin.

In 2023, the market management force nationwide inspected nearly 72,000 cases, detected and handled over 52,000 violations (an increase of 16% compared to 2022). Of which, nearly 44,000 cases were inspected unexpectedly; over 22,000 cases were periodically inspected...; nearly 500 billion VND was collected for the budget, an increase of 36% compared to 2022; 170 cases with signs of criminality were transferred to the investigation agency, an increase of 35% compared to 2022.

Previously, the leaders of the General Department of Market Management directed the market management forces nationwide to strengthen market inspection and control and strictly handle violations; focusing on essential goods and goods with high consumer demand during the end of the year and Lunar New Year such as confectionery, sugar, wine, beer, soft drinks, fresh food items... At the same time, the General Department of Market Management requested local market management forces to coordinate and exchange information with the police, customs, border guards, and specialized inspectors to effectively organize the fight against smuggling and trade fraud in border areas, seaports, airports, warehouses, goods gathering points and domestic markets...

Dismantling a large-scale fake milk powder production line in Ho Chi Minh City and Binh Duong

Binh Duong police are temporarily detaining a group of 8 people led by Vu Thanh Cong (36 years old, residing in District 12, Ho Chi Minh City), to investigate the act of "Producing and trading in counterfeit goods such as food, foodstuffs, and food additives".

Previously, the functional forces of Binh Duong Provincial Police in coordination with Ho Chi Minh City Police simultaneously inspected 4 production sites rented by Cong in both localities, discovered more than 7,500 cans of finished milk powder of various types, 70 cartons containing metal milk can lids, 150,000 milk cans of many famous brands; 7 sacks containing plastic milk box lids, along with machinery and equipment for manufacturing and trading counterfeit goods, with an estimated value of the seized evidence of about 14.5 billion VND. At the police station, Vu Thanh Cong confessed to producing fake milk powder of famous brands, illegally profiting about 3 billion VND.

XUAN TRUNG

GIA HAN