Director Tran Huu Linh made the statement at the 2023 summary conference of the Vietnam Directorate of Market Surveillance held yesterday in Hanoi. He announced that smuggling and illegal transportation of goods crossing borders basically are under good control; however, scammers have made use of electronic trading platforms to consume goods in Vietnam.

The total number of cases related to smuggled goods and counterfeit goods in 2023 increased by 19 percent compared to the previous year. Staff from departments of market surveillance imposed sanctions on violators and collected more than VND500 billion (US$20,451,697) for the State budget, but market managers have only fined and collected over VND15 billion from booths selling fake commodities on e-commerce platforms.

Notably, smuggled goods, counterfeit goods, and intellectual property rights infringements are not widely sold as before, but after being brought across the border, they are gathered by smugglers in warehouses located in remote places or at home, then contrabandists continue to take advantage of e-commerce for illegal business.

In 2023, the market surveillance force nationwide inspected 71,928 cases, discovering and handling 52,351 violations, an increase of 19 percent. Of these violations, 174 cases were transferred to the investigation agency because they had signs of crime, an increase of 37 percent. Over VND501 billion fine was put in the state budget.

Although smuggled and counterfeit goods sold through e-commerce platforms have been flourishing, the market surveillance agency admitted that in the tens of thousands of violations in 2023, they just detected and handled 928 cases, with a total fine of more than VND15 billion.

The Vietnam Directorate of Market Surveillance said that one of the key tasks of 2024 is to prevent smuggled goods, counterfeit commodities, and intellectual property violations in e-commerce platforms.

Source: SGGP