Counterfeit Prevention: Community Responsibility, Joining Hands to Push Back

Smuggling, trade fraud and counterfeit goods are occurring in many areas such as food, pharmaceuticals, personal items... making it difficult for consumers to choose quality, safe goods.

Customers learn and shop at Aeon Mall Binh Duong Canary

Many tricks to deceive customers

According to the Provincial Steering Committee for Combating Smuggling, Trade Fraud and Counterfeit Goods (SC 389), in the first 5 months of 2025, departments, branches and localities inspected 1,990 cases, handled 465 violations, and collected a total of more than 18 billion 420 million VND for the budget. The main violations were smuggling, trade fraud, and violations of food safety and hygiene.

It is noted that counterfeit and poor quality goods are diverse in design, type, and cheap. In recent times, many consumers still have the habit of buying food mainly based on advertising, recommendations from acquaintances, or advice from "online doctors", "online pharmacists" without paying much attention to labels, checking information, or tracing the origin of the product. On social networking platforms such as Facebook, TikTok or e-commerce platforms such as Shopee, Tiki, Lazada... it is not difficult to find all kinds of food for sale, from fresh, frozen, and processed foods to functional foods and diet foods. These items are quite diverse in origin, from domestic specialties to officially imported products, unofficially imported products, or "hand-carried" from abroad.

In that context, the “matrix” of exaggerated advertisements and flattering words from doctors, artists, and celebrities appear more and more densely on social networks, penetrating all e-commerce platforms. This is a favorable environment for fake, counterfeit, and poor quality goods to spread.

Ms. Tran Hoang Lan, residing in Quarter 4, Phu My Ward, Thu Dau Mot City, shared: “I once bought a digestive medicine product for my relative because I saw a reputable physician recommend it. But after researching and reading information in the press, I learned that there was no physician or doctor representing this product, but it was just a trick of the seller. They created many false sales materials to attract and build trust with customers in their product.”

Ms. Nguyen Thi Ngoc Trang, President of the Vietnam Association for the Protection of Consumer Rights: Changing consumer habits is not only about protecting yourself from counterfeit goods, but also a way to ensure the health and safety of yourself and your family. By raising awareness and vigilance when shopping, consumers can avoid the negative effects of counterfeit goods.

Need more appropriate regulations

Online shopping can be considered a very convenient form, however, consumers can easily fall into the trap of counterfeit and poor quality goods. According to the Provincial Steering Committee 389, fighting against the production and trading of counterfeit goods is a regular task of the authorities, however, detecting and handling violations of this behavior is very difficult. The forces mainly carry out inspections of goods circulating on the market, if there is no clear evidence, if not caught red-handed, detecting violations is very difficult, especially for smuggled goods. Once circulating on the market, counterfeit goods of origin are often mixed with genuine goods, goods of clear origin.

In particular, for counterfeit goods of origin without a clear business or subject, detection and handling are even more difficult, such as agricultural products, raw materials, goods with counterfeit businesses, fraudulent production addresses... Taking advantage of the openness of the regime, policies, e-commerce activities, express delivery, consignment services..., the subjects collude to form smuggling and trade fraud lines, buying and selling smuggled goods, goods of unknown origin, and poor quality goods on e-commerce platforms. These subjects often do not register their business or have registered but with inaccurate personal information and addresses; do not have a specific store address or the goods are stored at their residence, with a solid fence; when successfully signing a transaction, the unit transporting the goods is another subject... This makes it difficult for the inspection force to trace, monitor, check and sanction administrative violations.

According to the leader of the Provincial Steering Committee 389, in order to prevent and repel smuggling, trade fraud, counterfeit goods, and intellectual property infringement, in addition to traditional methods, it is necessary to proactively grasp the situation; identify new methods and tricks of smuggling, trade fraud, and counterfeit goods. At the same time, in the field of e-commerce, there should be stricter regulations to facilitate the authorities in tracing goods. In particular, there should be regulations on identifying sellers on social networks and e-commerce platforms, on the basis of utilizing and connecting with the National Population Database. Manufacturers need to strengthen quality control and protect their brands to ensure product safety. In addition, authorities and localities should strengthen coordination in inspecting and handling violations...

Ms. Nguyen Thi Ngoc Trang, President of the Vietnam Association for the Protection of Consumer Rights, said that smart shopping is the key to preventing counterfeit and fake goods on e-commerce platforms and in traditional markets. Accordingly, shoppers need to grasp information, check reviews, choose reputable suppliers, check information about sellers and use consumer protection services to create a safe shopping environment.

THANH HONG

Source: https://baobinhduong.vn/phong-chong-hang-gia-cong-dong-trach-nhiem-chung-tay-day-lui-a348866.html