Strengthening capacity and ensuring safety for drug prevention and control forces

Deputy Prime Minister Bui Thanh Son requested to increase the application of modern technology and digital transformation in the fight against smuggling, trade fraud and counterfeit goods, including electronic tax and electronic invoices - Photo: VGP/Hai Minh

On the afternoon of April 21, Deputy Prime Minister Bui Thanh Son chaired a conference to review the work of the first quarter of 2025 and the direction and tasks for the coming time of the National Steering Committee against smuggling, trade fraud and counterfeit goods (National Steering Committee 389).

The conference was connected online with Steering Committee 389 of 63 provinces and cities across the country.

According to the Report of the Standing Office of the National Steering Committee 389, in the first 3 months of 2025, smuggling, trade fraud, buying and selling, transporting drugs, currency, high-value goods such as alcohol, pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, functional foods, etc. took place at most international airports and post offices, in which the most prominent activity was the illegal buying and selling and transporting of drugs from Europe through Tan Son Nhat International Airport into Vietnam.

Crimes and violations of the law on production and trade of counterfeit goods, goods that infringe intellectual property rights, goods that violate product labels, trading in expired goods, goods of unknown origin, smuggled goods, goods without invoices or documents, etc. continue to occur in most key areas of provinces and cities.

Activities of taking advantage of e-commerce, shopping on social networking sites, express delivery, post offices, etc. to produce, trade, and transport goods of unknown origin, counterfeit goods, poor quality goods, and goods that infringe intellectual property rights, etc. are on the rise in all areas of the country. Illegal buying and selling of invoices in large quantities is still taking place in some provinces and cities.

Regarding methods and tricks, the subjects take advantage of simple procedures for transit goods, border gate transfers, tax exemption for temporarily imported and re-exported goods, goods sent to bonded warehouses, export processing, declaring priority goods for procedures, exemption from inspection, intentionally declaring wrong names of goods, technical parameters, quantity, type, declaring low value, mixing infringing goods with officially imported goods, to smuggle and infiltrate into the Vietnamese market...

Subjects take advantage of commercial legal entity status to produce and trade counterfeit and poor quality goods; take advantage of business activities to organize the illegal sale of large quantities of value-added invoices for the purpose of evading large amounts of tax.

The subjects also take advantage of e-commerce platforms and use social networking sites and livestream tools to advertise and trade in smuggled goods, counterfeit goods, banned goods, goods that infringe intellectual property rights, poor quality goods, and goods of unknown origin.

Also according to the Report of Steering Committee 389, in the first quarter of 2025, units and localities arrested and handled 30,651 violations, down 0.77% over the same period; collected more than 4,616 billion VND for the state budget, up 59.45% over the same period.

Units and localities have prosecuted 1,328 criminal cases, an increase of 18.36% over the same period, with 2,046 subjects, an increase of 21.35% over the same period.

Deputy Prime Minister Bui Thanh Son chaired the conference to review the work of the first quarter of 2025 and the direction and tasks for the coming time of the National Steering Committee against smuggling, trade fraud and counterfeit goods - Photo: VGP/Hai Minh

Local leaders recommended that the Government promote non-cash payments to limit the sale of fake invoices; strictly control the input and output of goods, and require stores to issue invoices when selling goods.

Localities recommended that the National Steering Committee 389 direct ministries and branches to continue to amend and supplement the system of regulations on penalties in the direction of increasing deterrence, especially for e-commerce activities; direct the police force to strengthen inspection and supervision in the area; and issue a list of goods banned from circulation in Vietnam.

An Giang province proposed that the National Steering Committee 389 continue to promote inter-sectoral cooperation with Cambodian authorities to prevent cross-border smuggling, including gold.

Concluding the Conference, Deputy Prime Minister Bui Thanh Son highly appreciated the proactive and responsible participation and positive results of ministries, branches, localities and functional forces in the fight against smuggling, trade fraud and counterfeit goods in recent times.

However, the Deputy Prime Minister also pointed out that the work of combating smuggling, trade fraud and counterfeit goods has not yet reflected the actual situation, has not met people's expectations, has not been closely linked to the locality, has not fulfilled its responsibilities well, and there are still some serious incidents that have caused public outrage, such as the fake milk case in Hanoi, fake medicine in Thanh Hoa, or the production of fake coffee powder and the use of banned substances in the production of bean sprouts in Dak Lak...

The situation of smuggled goods and illegal transportation of goods across the border is still complicated; counterfeit goods, poor quality goods, and goods of unknown origin are still being sold openly in many places, increasing in the e-commerce environment on a large scale and for a long time; the situation of transporting prohibited goods, goods of fake origin, and intellectual property violations has not been detected and handled promptly.

The reason for the above-mentioned shortcomings and limitations is that the leaders of Party committees, authorities of some localities, units and functional forces have not been resolute in their leadership and direction. Mechanisms and policies are still flawed and inadequate, creating loopholes for subjects to take advantage of, causing difficulties in the process of inspection, detection, arrest and handling. The work of coordination, exchange and sharing of information has not promoted the combined strength of the forces, especially the exchange of information and monitoring of goods from the border to the inland.

In the context of countries changing policies, especially tax policies, while the country is entering a period of accelerating economic growth, the fight against smuggling, trade fraud and counterfeit goods needs to be given more importance to protect the economy, help businesses develop, and help people access goods of the right quality, the right products, and exported goods of clear origin, the Deputy Prime Minister emphasized.

Regarding some key tasks in the coming time, the Deputy Prime Minister assigned the Standing Office of the National Steering Committee 389 to synthesize recommendations and proposals at the Conference, report to the Head of the National Steering Committee 389 for consideration and timely handling.

The Deputy Prime Minister requested ministries, branches, localities and functional forces to continue to synchronously, resolutely and effectively implement tasks and solutions in telegrams, directives and guiding documents of the Government, Prime Minister and National Steering Committee 389; and assigned the Office of National Steering Committee 389 to monitor the progress of this content.

The Deputy Prime Minister assigned the Ministry of Justice to coordinate with the Office of the National Steering Committee 389 and member ministries and branches of the Steering Committee to review and standardize the system of legal documents along with standards and regulations related to combating counterfeit and poor quality goods, and to add sanctions to handle violations.

The Deputy Prime Minister requested that ministries and branches that have completed the merger process quickly complete the members of the National Steering Committee 389; localities promptly complete their local Steering Committee 389 after completing the rearrangement of localities.

The Office of the National Steering Committee 389 builds a coordination mechanism between the National Steering Committee 389 and local Steering Committees 389; guides local Steering Committees 389 to build a coordination mechanism and coordinate forces participating in the fight against smuggling, trade fraud and counterfeit goods in the area.

Ministries and sectors, according to their functions and tasks, continue to strengthen inspection, supervision and monitoring; organize interdisciplinary inspection teams of their sectors to promptly detect subjects with acts of smuggling, trade fraud and counterfeit goods; and must not loosen management.

The Deputy Prime Minister also requested to increase the application of modern technology and digital transformation in the fight against smuggling, trade fraud and counterfeit goods, including electronic tax and electronic invoices.

The Deputy Prime Minister agreed with the proposal that the police and border guards coordinate to develop a project to improve drug prevention and control capacity. Other ministries and sectors continue to improve and enhance their capacity, including modern equipment, to ensure the safety of their forces.

On this occasion, the Deputy Prime Minister sent his deepest condolences and regards to the family of martyr Major Nguyen Dang Khai, the Quang Ninh Provincial Police and the entire People's Police force; shared the difficulties and hardships; acknowledged the efforts of the entire People's Police force in the fight against crime, maintaining a peaceful and happy life for the people.

The Deputy Prime Minister also agreed with the opinions that the fight against smuggling, trade fraud and counterfeit goods is the cause of the entire people, in which the detection and denunciation of the people along with the effective coordination of functional forces are very important.

Hai Minh

Source: https://baochinhphu.vn/tang-cuong-nang-luc-bao-ve-an-toan-cho-luc-luong-phong-chong-ma-tuy-102250421194231351.htm