Software to trace the origin of goods is coming soon, helping people detect counterfeit goods

(Chinhphu.vn) - According to Deputy Minister of Public Security Nguyen Van Long, when the system is put into operation, people can easily trace the origin of goods circulating on the market, thereby contributing to preventing trade fraud, counterfeit goods, and smuggled goods.

Minister of Industry and Trade Nguyen Hong Dien: The fight against smuggling, trade fraud, counterfeit goods and intellectual property rights infringement is becoming increasingly fierce - Photo: VGP

On the afternoon of June 23, at the Government headquarters, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh chaired a national online conference to review the work in the first 6 months of 2025 and summarize the peak period of fighting, preventing and repelling smuggling, trade fraud, counterfeit goods and infringement of intellectual property rights.

According to Minister of Industry and Trade Nguyen Hong Dien, the fight against smuggling, trade fraud, counterfeit goods and intellectual property rights infringement is becoming increasingly fierce. "Since the beginning of the year, on average, the forces have handled several hundred cases each day, which is not a small number. However, the number of violations of regulations is getting bigger and bigger," said Minister Nguyen Hong Dien, while stating the basic causes for this situation.

According to the Minister of Industry and Trade, smuggling and trade fraud always bring great benefits to business people. Along with that is the emergence of e-commerce with a very fast growth rate (25%/year), this is a very good environment for smugglers and trade fraudsters to operate.

In addition, the main force in the fight, which is the market management force, has been transferred to the localities since February. Besides the localities that have started directing these tasks very well, many localities have not directed this force in a timely manner.

Along with that, the laws, mechanisms and policies still have many loopholes, which need to be further reviewed for improvement. And another reason, according to the minister, is that some authorities have not done their job well, and some officials even assist and legalize these violations.

Deputy Minister of Public Security Nguyen Van Long said that since the beginning of 2025, the Ministry of Public Security has identified the fight against environmental crimes, food safety, smuggling, counterfeit goods, and intellectual property violations as a key task. On that basis, three master plans have been issued, launching peak periods of comprehensive review and handling.

During the peak period, the police force focused on dismantling large-scale fake food production and trading lines, typically products such as milk and functional foods. With the motto "handling one case, warning the whole region, the whole field", the Ministry of Public Security resolutely dealt with the abetting behavior of the authorities, with no forbidden areas.

To date, the entire force has prosecuted 124 cases with 297 defendants; the Ministry of Public Security's Investigation Police Agency alone prosecuted 7 cases with more than 100 defendants, seizing counterfeit goods worth more than 12,000 billion VND. Local police have handled nearly 1,000 administrative cases, collecting fines of over 15 billion VND.

Deputy Minister Nguyen Van Long: With the motto "handling one case, warning the whole region, the whole field", the Ministry of Public Security is determined to handle all acts of complicity from functional agencies, there are no forbidden zones - Photo: VGP

Two major corporate ecosystems are prominent in the violations: Z Holding and Big Holding. Z Holding was determined to have sold nearly VND7,000 billion worth of counterfeit goods; Big Holding about VND4,000 billion. To deceive the authorities, the subjects falsified test results or colluded with testing units to provide fake results, colluded with state agencies to facilitate the issuance of GMP certificates to manufacturing plants.

According to Deputy Minister of National Defense Nguyen Hong Thai, in the first 6 months of the year, the functional forces of the Ministry of National Defense coordinated with other forces to arrest 1,412 cases, of which 293 cases were related to drugs, 639 cases were related to illegal transportation of goods, and 210 cases were related to other acts.

"Through reports from units, we see that counterfeit, poor quality, and intellectual property-infringing goods are not purely smuggled or transported from abroad, but many of them are produced domestically, especially foods and functional foods in very blatant forms, especially affecting people's health," Deputy Minister Nguyen Hong Thai informed.

Deputy Minister of Health Do Xuan Tuyen: In the first 6 months of the year, in the field of food safety, the entire health sector inspected over 170,000 establishments, discovered over 9,000 establishments in violation, accounting for 5.2%; imposed fines of over 20 billion VND - Photo: VGP

Deputy Minister of Health Do Xuan Tuyen said that in the first 6 months of the year, in the field of food safety, the entire health sector inspected over 170,000 establishments, discovered over 9,000 establishments in violation, accounting for 5.2%; and imposed fines of over 20 billion VND.

For the peak month, 5 inspection teams related to food safety were established at 17 establishments, including establishments violating product labels and advertising.

In the food sector, in the first 6 months of the year, 106 establishments were inspected, 26 establishments were found to be in violation and about 600 million VND was fined. In the peak month, 59 establishments were inspected, 21 establishments were found to be in violation.

In the first six months of the year, the Ministry directed the collection of over 16,000 samples of medicines, cosmetics and food for testing. In particular, it discovered two establishments selling medicines in Hanoi of unknown origin and quality.

Proposal to increase administrative penalties to increase deterrence

Deputy Minister of Public Security Nguyen Van Long emphasized that in the coming time, with the goal of preventing and strictly controlling the quality of goods in general, especially food safety and medicine, the Ministry of Public Security recommends that relevant ministries, branches and agencies improve their state management capacity in assigned fields, urgently review and perfect mechanisms, policies and legal systems in a practical direction, creating favorable conditions but not loosening management.

According to the Deputy Minister, one of the tasks assigned by the Prime Minister to the Ministry of Public Security within the framework of Project 06 is to coordinate in building a data platform on the origin of goods. Currently, the Ministry of Public Security is working with the Ministry of Industry and Trade and VNPT to develop this system, expected to be put into trial operation at the end of this year, initially applied to a number of groups of goods. When put into operation, the platform will help people trace the origin of products, contributing to preventing trade fraud, counterfeit goods, smuggled goods, and providing data for policy making.

Deputy Minister Nguyen Hong Thai: Regularly reviewing and proposing amendments to legal documents is necessary to ensure both openness for production and business, control the quality of goods, and protect people's health - Photo: VGP

Deputy Minister of National Defense Nguyen Hong Thai suggested continuing to effectively implement the plans and directions of the Government, especially Steering Committee 389, in the fight against smuggling, counterfeit goods, and intellectual property infringement.

In particular, more attention should be paid to the quality of legal documents - a key factor in preventing "policy corruption". According to the Deputy Minister, regular review and proposal of amendments to legal documents is necessary to ensure both transparency for production and business, control the quality of goods, and protect people's health.

The representative of the Ministry of Health said that it will also closely coordinate with the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Ministry of Industry and Trade to strengthen the management of advertising activities in the electronic environment. In particular, when violations are detected, it is necessary to handle not only the advertising unit but also the organization and individual who hires false advertising. The Ministry of Health has also issued a document requesting artists, celebrities, state officials and scientists not to participate in promoting violating products.

The Ministry also proposed considering raising the level of administrative penalties, similar to Decree 168 in the field of traffic safety, to increase deterrence against violations.

Anh Tho

Source: https://baochinhphu.vn/sap-co-phan-mem-truy-xuat-nguon-goc-hang-hoa-giup-nguoi-dan-phat-hien-hang-gia-102250623182347549.htm