After a local silk importer was recently found to be disguising Chinese products as Vietnamese to sell them in India, experts have warned of the risks of losing out on exports and preferential tariffs due to intellectual property (IP) violations.

The fight against trade fraud became even tougher after the US-China trade war broke out in 2018, according to Director of the Post-Customs Clearance Inspection Department Nguyen Tien Loc.

After a local silk importer was recently found to be disguising Chinese products as Vietnamese to sell them in India, experts have warned of the risks of losing out on exports and preferential tariffs due to intellectual property (IP) violations.

Country of origin fraud cases, wherein Chinese products bear Made-in-Vietnam labels, are on the rise, with Vietnam’s customs authority recently inspecting 76 cases

An agency from the General Department of Vietnam Customs has accused four firms of relabeling foreign-made products as Vietnamese, including bicycles and wooden shelves, to avoid high U.S. tariffs.

Given the more complicated nature of origin fraud, the Government has ordered a review of legal documents and has called for tighter control over the issuance of certificates of origin (C/O).

Popular women clothing brand Seven.AM has closed its stores in Hanoi after authorities seized thousands of products for investigations into their allegedly replacing made-in-China labels with Vietnamese alternatives.

The Hanoi General Department for Market Management on Tuesday reported that it had seized more than 9,000 products of the fashion brand SEVEN.am.

After many exports to the US were found disguised with ‘made in Vietnam’ labels to try to evade anti-dumping duties, Vietnam has become more vigilant over origin fraud.

The Prime Minister has given instructions to fight against origin fraud and illegal transshipment to protect brands and the prestige of Vietnamese goods.

According to a market research by Forest Trend, in the first five months of this year, the number of new FDI projects in wood industry totaled 49 projects, of which there were 32 projects belonging to wood processing field.

Quantifying Vietnamese content in products and legalizing made-in-Vietnam products are important tasks which can clarify what made-in-Vietnam means.

Vietnam has vowed to prevent and discover origin fraud in an effort to protect domestic production.

Amid the US-China trade war, the US is paying higher notice to Vietnamese products. As a result, enterprises have had to change business practices to adapt to new circumstances.