Businesses can’t do much with counterfeit goods

Only a few cases of counterfeit goods being made and sold have been discovered, with violators served with light fines. This explains why counterfeit goods are still flooding the market.

Counterfeit goods everywhere

Omo detergent has become well known among housewives in Vietnam. Detergent producers have tried to give similar names to their products. “Sino”, “Vimo,” and “Otto” detergent products have been selling everywhere on the market, introduced as the “sisters” of Omo.

There are a lot of products with Omo-imitating brands available at grocery stores in Hanoi. At some shops, counterfeit goods are on the display mixed with real goods to deceive consumers. The retailers of counterfeit goods do not have to go anywhere to get counterfeit goods. Merchants will bring counterfeit goods to them. Retailers prefer selling counterfeit goods to real goods, because they can earn bigger commissions.

The “PEC – Dien co 91” electric pan brand is another typical example. At first, the Electromechanics Production 91 Company, a company headquartered in Cau Dien town of Tu Liem district in Hanoi, tried to use the “PEC – Dien co 91” brand for its products. However, Electromechanics Production 91 Company does not own the product; another company, the Photo-Electric and Electronic Company under the Ministry of National Defense, does. After the violation was discovered, the Electromechanics Production 91 Company decided to use another name which was similar with “PEC – Dien co 91” – “DCE – Dien co 91”.

“PEC – Dien co 91” and “DCE – Dien co 91” products look very similar in design and color and have similar names. State management agencies, after conducting an investigation, concluded that the Electromechanics Production 91 Company violated the law by using the copyrighted brand of another manufacturer. However, the violator only had to pay 48 million dong in fines.

Figures released by the Gas Association at a recent workshop on fighting contraband and counterfeit goods may startle many people: 30 percent of the 1.2 million tons of gas now available on the market are counterfeit products.

According to the Market Control Agency, a unit of the Ministry of Industry and Trade, the production and sale of counterfeit and imitation goods has become more serious. Producers have begun counterfeiting all kinds of products that have a direct impact on human health, such as dairy products, confectionary, wine, food, cosmetics, medicine, clothes, and children’s toys.

Counterfeit goods appear on the market right after a brand becomes well known. In 2009, the police discovered 1,000 violations, while other branches found 196,470 cases, imposing fines totaling 2,407 billion dong. In the first seven months of 2010, the market control taskforce discovered more than 400 cases.

What to do?

Unilever Vietnam, which owns Omo brand, said that the company has tried to upgrade the quality of its products, change the design, and send recommendations to sale agents and consumers. However, the company said that the most effective method of preventing counterfeiting so far has been simply advising people to only buy products at reliable sales agents and shops.

Even financially capable companies also say they are tired of fighting against counterfeit goods.

Honda Vietnam spends considerable money to investigate and cooperate with the market management taskforce to discover violators. However, imitation motorbikes still appear on the market.

Viet Tien Garment Corporation said it has been trying to apply a number of methods to fight against counterfeit goods. However, according to Phan Van Kiet, Deputy General Director of Viet Tien, the measures cannot help much. He argues that the best solution is to teach consumers to differentiate real goods from counterfeit goods.

Le The Bao, Chairman of the Association for Fighting Against Counterfeit Goods and Brand Protection, said that the fight against counterfeit goods needs support from the whole business community. In addition, the legal framework needs to be perfected so that the punishments are heavy enough to deter violators.

Dau tu chung khoan newspaper has quoted a source as saying that the Ministry of Industry and Trade has submitted to the Government a draft decree on how to treat counterfeit cases. While waiting for the decree to be enacted, the only thing enterprises can do is to call on people to become “smart consumers.” – Dau tu chung khoan

Tags: counterfeit goods