The arduous battle against counterfeit goods

Deploy in sync, no white zone to check

In late May, the interdisciplinary inspection team led by Market Management Team No. 3 coordinated with functional forces to suddenly inspect the headquarters of Nam Duoc Bao Tam An Joint Stock Company in Thac Ba town, Yen Binh district. Here, hundreds of boxes of functional foods were found to violate labeling, quality standards, and even lacked a certificate of food safety knowledge. The total value of the violating shipment was more than 238 million VND.

"We temporarily detained all the goods and made a record of administrative violations. This is a decisive action to deter and thoroughly handle acts of disregarding public health," emphasized Mr. Tran Hung Tuan - Deputy Head of the Provincial Market Management Department.

Authorities inspect the headquarters of Nam Duoc Bao Tam An Joint Stock Company, Thac Ba town, Yen Binh district.

Not only in Yen Binh district, the market management force of Yen Bai province during the peak month (May 15 - June 15) spread out to all districts and towns to check the market, from wholesale markets to remote areas.

Mr. Pham The Minh - Captain of Market Management Team No. 1 said: "We are in charge of a large area, including Mu Cang Chai, Tram Tau, Van Chan, where travel is extremely difficult. But that does not mean we are lax. During the peak period, we inspected and handled many cases, including a business household that was fined more than 10 million VND for trading in goods of unknown origin."

Determination from provincial level that there are no restricted areas

Faced with the pressing situation of smuggling and counterfeiting, Yen Bai province has established a special task force headed by the Chairman of the provincial People's Committee. At the same time, it has issued many directives requiring departments, branches and functional forces to strengthen coordination and conduct focused and key inspections.

During the peak period from May 15 to June 15, 2025 alone, the Market Management Force of Yen Bai province inspected 50 cases, handled 48 violations, with administrative fines of up to more than 397 million VND, the value of goods forced to be destroyed was nearly 380 million VND. The main discovered violating items were cosmetics, functional foods, frozen foods of unknown origin, used clothes, eyeglasses, shoes with counterfeit trademarks...

One of the particularly serious cases is the illegal production of cosmetics by Dong Duoc Nu Hoang Trading, Production and Import-Export Company Limited. From January 2024 to May 2025, the company's director, Vu Quang Thuan, illegally produced more than 22,640 cosmetic products with a total value of more than VND 8.2 billion. These cosmetics were sold nationwide through a network of agents, posing a serious risk to the health of consumers.

Yen Bai Provincial Police have initiated a case and prosecuted Vu Quang Thuan (born in 1990), Director of Dong Duoc Nu Hoang Trading, Production and Import-Export Company Limited, for the crime of Manufacturing prohibited goods.

Also during the peak period, the Economic Police Department of the Provincial Police initiated a case and prosecuted two other subjects, Bui Van Khanh and Nguyen Thi Thanh Hien (residing in Phu Tho) for ordering a company in Hanoi to illegally produce 2,000 boxes of unlicensed health protection food. Of these, 831 boxes were sold on the market with a value of more than 264 million VND.

Yen Bai Provincial Police searched the company Dong Duoc Nu Hoang.

Not only traditional stores, fraudulent commercial activities are now infiltrating strongly on digital platforms. Implementing Plan No. 269 dated May 27, 2025, the Market Management Department of Yen Bai province has requested Market Management Teams to strengthen supervision of trading activities via e-commerce platforms and social networks.

Mr. Tran Hung Tuan - Deputy Head of the Department said: "We pay special attention to counterfeit products that infringe intellectual property rights and are widely sold online. Many small traders use social networks to sell poor quality goods, taking advantage of consumers' psychology of wanting cheap goods."

At the same time, the Market Management Teams also closely coordinated with the Economic Police Department, the Provincial Police and local authorities to organize propaganda, requesting people to voluntarily return counterfeit goods according to the announcement of the Ministry of Public Security . Notably, most businesses strictly complied, but there were still some businesses that secretly closed down and dispersed the violating goods. These cases were all specially monitored and made a list of surprise checks.

Hardships at the front line against fraud

Although the results of inspection and handling of violations have achieved many positive changes, the authorities still face many difficulties during the peak implementation process. First is determining the quality and testing of goods. Currently, Yen Bai province does not have a center for testing counterfeit and poor quality goods, so all suspicious goods samples must be sent to the central government. This is not only time-consuming but also difficult in terms of funding, because the testing fund has not been allocated in advance.

During peak periods, many businesses actively evade inspections, even closing stores en masse, and hiding illegal goods. Many households take advantage of lump-sum tax, making it difficult to compare input and output invoices and inventory to determine violations.

Mr. Tran Hung Tuan - Deputy Head of the Department said: "The current situation of trading on e-commerce platforms and social networks also poses many challenges. Subjects often do not have a fixed business location, selling goods via livestream at their own homes, making it difficult for authorities to verify, monitor and handle."

Market management forces destroy products of unknown origin.

In addition, there is a regulation to transfer the record of violations beyond the authority within 24 hours. This regulation causes difficulties if the violation occurs at night, on holidays or in remote areas where communication conditions are limited.

Mr. Pham The Minh - Captain of Market Management Team No. 1 shared: "For my team, the force is still small and lacks equipment, while the management area is large and the terrain is fragmented. The situation of not having time to complete the leadership apparatus during peak times also affects the progress of handling cases beyond authority."

Finally, it is impossible not to mention the limited awareness of a part of small traders and consumers. For profit, many people still support counterfeit and smuggled goods. Meanwhile, the mentality of people preferring cheap goods and not caring about the origin of goods unintentionally creates a consumption environment for infringing goods.

Be determined but do not make things difficult for legitimate businesses

Despite the drastic handling of violations, Yen Bai province still affirms the principle of not affecting legal activities. The Provincial People's Committee requires that inspections must comply with regulations, be focused, not overlap, and not cause trouble for legitimate production and business enterprises.

According to the latest directive, units implementing the plan must clearly define the spirit of "6 clear": clear people, clear work, clear time, clear responsibility, clear authority, clear products. All must be reported periodically and have substantive assessment.

Authorities continue to strengthen market inspection and control.

At the same time, the province also requires sectors to increase propaganda and dissemination of laws to raise awareness among traders and people. Counterfeit goods prevention will be more effective if consumers know how to refuse to use poor quality goods and at the same time report violations.

Fighting against commercial fraud is an uncompromising but also challenging battle. In order for this battle to not be fought alone, in addition to the decisive participation of the authorities, it is necessary to have the support of the whole community, especially consumers - the final "gatekeepers" of product quality.

"We wish to have more resources to do better. But the most important thing is the consensus of the people. When people trust and report violations, the authorities will have more strength," said Mr. Pham The Minh - Captain of Market Management Team No. 1.

The Yen Bai market is gradually becoming clean again. And behind the numbers, there is restored trust, trust in a fair business environment, in government action, and in the safety of every product present in the daily life of every family.

Hong Duyen

Source: https://baoyenbai.com.vn/215/351999/Gian-nan-tran-tuyen-chong-hang-gia.aspx