Tighten control, prevent counterfeit goods, dirty food

Counterfeit goods and dirty food not only distort the market, but also threaten the health and legitimate rights of consumers. In Quang Ninh, an area with bustling trading activities, the authorities are implementing many measures to prevent counterfeit and poor quality goods from entering people's lives, contributing to maintaining the safety of every meal and the health of the market.

Subject Nguyen Van Thuy conducts a field experiment on the production process of fake pesticides in Viet Hung ward, Ha Long city.

At the end of 2024, from monitoring activities on cyberspace, detectives from the Department of Investigation Police on Crimes of Corruption, Economy and Smuggling (Department of Economic Police), Provincial Police discovered two Facebook fanpages, "Trư Cỏ Lưu Đàn Biogly888" and "Diệt Cỏ Tấn Gốc biogly88", showing signs of advertising the sale of fake pesticides. The case was quickly put under special surveillance.

Captain Do Dinh Thanh, Investigator of the Investigation Team for Prevention of Counterfeit Goods and Intellectual Property Infringement, Economic Police Department, Quang Ninh Police, said: In a short time, the unit verified the owners of the fanpages, contacted Nong Sinh Company Limited as the legal owner of the "Biogly" trademark and was confirmed that this was a counterfeit product. From there, the unit reported to the leaders and set up a special project to fight.

On April 18, 2025, the Economic Police Department of the Provincial Police coordinated with functional forces to inspect the residence of Pham Thu Thao and her boyfriend Nguyen Van Thuy in Viet Hung Ward, Ha Long City. Through the inspection, the functional forces discovered more than 2,500 packages and 10,800 packages of herbicides branded BIOGLY88.8SP. Notably, all of the seized goods were branded by Nong Sinh Company Limited but there was no sign of being officially produced or distributed by this enterprise, confirming that these were counterfeit goods, produced to deceive consumers and make illegal profits.

The Investigation Police Agency has initiated a case, prosecuted the accused, and temporarily detained Pham Thu Thao (born 1991, Ha Long City), Nguyen Van Thuy (born 1994, Bac Giang ) and Nguyen Hoang Son (born 2001, Hung Yen) for the crime of "Producing and trading in counterfeit plant protection drugs".

According to initial statements, the production activities were carried out at Group 5, Zone 3, Viet Hung Ward, Ha Long City. By the time of discovery, the subjects had put about 60,000 fake herbicide products on the market, illegally profiting nearly 600 million VND. The case is evidence of the sophisticated tricks of counterfeit criminals, taking advantage of cyberspace to consume products on a large scale.

Not stopping at fighting against counterfeit goods, the provincial police force has also expanded its focus to controlling food hygiene and safety, an area that directly affects people's health.

Authorities supervise the destruction of frozen food of unknown origin, seized in Hai Ha district.

Typically, on May 27, 2025, the authorities raided a frozen food warehouse in Hai Ha district owned by Dong Xuan Sang (born in 1985, residing in Quang Long commune, Hai Ha district). At the scene, they seized more than 25.4 tons of goods including squid, beef tripe, chicken feet... that smelled bad and had unknown origins. Then, on May 29, the authorities continued to inspect the business premises of Nguyen Van Luong (born in 1983, residing in Hoanh Bo ward, Ha Long city), discovering more than 2 tons of frozen foods such as chicken wings, pig hearts, pig intestines, pig feet, mantis shrimp... with packaging printed with foreign labels but without secondary labels, invoices, and documents, and did not ensure storage conditions. Thus, in less than 72 hours, two consecutive food warehouses with large quantities of violations were discovered right in residential areas, showing the seriousness and potential risks to public health if not promptly prevented. All goods have been destroyed, and related subjects are continuing to be investigated and handled according to legal regulations.

With a unique terrain stretching nearly 120km of land border and more than 250km of coastline, many international border gates and large seaports, Quang Ninh has become a complex area, where smugglers and illegal transporters of goods often take advantage of to smuggle counterfeit and poor-quality goods into the country. This is both a challenge and a basis for the province to continue to tighten multi-line control, remotely preventing risks affecting the market and consumers. Statistics for the first 5 months of 2025, the Economic Police Department of the Provincial Police arrested 210 cases, prosecuted 21 cases with 48 defendants for the crime of manufacturing and trading counterfeit goods; handled 12 cases with 36 defendants for the act of transporting and trading in prohibited goods.

Lieutenant Colonel Bui Duy Hung, Head of the Economic Police Department, Provincial Police, said: The police force has proactively advised on the development of a specialized plan for the whole province, synchronously deployed professional measures, resolutely detected and handled as they were discovered, not allowing the formation of complicated networks and groups. Thereby, contributing to the effective implementation of the Prime Minister's Official Dispatch No. 65/CD-TTg dated May 15, 2025 on launching a peak period to combat, prevent and repel smuggling, trade fraud, counterfeit goods and infringement of intellectual property rights.

According to the Draft Penal Code (amended) proposed by the Ministry of Public Security and submitted to the National Assembly for discussion at the end of May 2025, the penalty for food safety violations has been proposed to increase sharply: Fines of up to 3 billion VND, maximum prison sentences of 20 years. Notably, acts of trading fake food via e-commerce platforms with a scale of reaching 500 people or more can be prosecuted with a sentence of 5 to 10 years in prison. With the new penalty framework, the draft is expected to create a stronger deterrent against this type of crime that is tending to arise in cyberspace.

These strong sanctions, together with the synchronous participation of functional agencies and active cooperation from businesses and people, are prerequisites to gradually clean up the market, maintain consumer confidence and protect public health.

Le Nam

Source: https://baoquangninh.vn/siet-chat-kiem-soat-ngan-chan-hang-gia-thuc-pham-ban-vao-thi-truong-3363581.html