Crisis sparks growth in fakes, smuggling and trade fraud in VN

Business Desk
Viet Nam News
Publication Date: 23-03-2009

The economic crisis has made the fight against smuggling, fake products and trade fraud more complicated in Viet Nam, according to director of the market watch department Nguyen Hung Dung.

Dung and his colleagues from around the country attended a conference in Ha Noi yesterday to review the work from 2008 and plan for this year.

He forecast that the influence of the global economic crisis on domestic prices of all types of products would result in more fake goods and trade frauds this year.

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According to data, there were more than 70,000 commercial law violations last year, an increase of 8.4 per cent over 2007. From those cases officials seized VND239 billion (US$14 million).
Smuggling in the north was reported to have been reduced, but there were still complicated and increased cases in the central and the southern provinces last year, said Dung.

Smugglers increased their activities on the railways, as they discovered easy conditions to conduct their affairs. "Ten-minute train stops are not long enough for us to carry out our investigations," he said.

Nguyen Viet The, head of the market watch team in the central Quang Tri Province, said tobacco was the hot smuggling product in his area because of its ease of transport.

The said the rugged terrain of the areas near the Lao border gates was perfect for smugglers and illegal traffickers. His limited team and the lack of co-operation with others means challenges to combating the problem.

More important, The said, the Viet Nam Tobacco Association did not provide adequate policies or funding to achieve good results in the fight against tobacco smugglers. The added that the funding given to the market watch team was not even enough to cover the work costs.

Representatives from Tay Ninh Province said some violators yelled verbal abuses and even beat customs officials at the Moc Bai Duty Free Shop when they were checked.

They explained that because people were allowed to purchase VND500,000 worth of imported goods such as liquor and tobacco per visit to the shop at duty free prices, the smugglers used multiple ID cards to try to buy more products.

Hung asked those working at border gates to strengthen their work in the investigation of trade products such as petrol, medicines, cosmetics, electronics, wine, tobacco, poultry and cattle.
Recently, Ha Noi’s market watch team found two companies involved in the production and sale of 5,000 fake Vodka Ha Noi liquor bottles, a favourite drink for many people in Viet Nam.

Hung said the small market watch team and the low quality of their professions were the two major disadvantages. He added that they would continue the current project to build capacity among his officials in intellectual rights management as well as market management in the most effective way.

Further plans call for the department to work with the US, China, Switzerland and other countries on specific projects in an aim to improve the work of its officials, said the director.