More counterfeit products flood Vietnamese market

The production and trade of fake products was becoming increasingly common, said Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Nguyen Cam Tu.

Many officials agreed with the deputy minister that fake products were pervasive during a meeting held on Monday to review the Prime Minister’s direction No 28/2008/CT-TTg to fight the production of counterfeit goods.

Fake products are available across the country in urban centres and in rural markets.

Counterfeit goods are produced with sophisticated methods and modern technology, which makes it hard for consumers to distinguish between fake and genuine products, reported the Viet Nam Fake Production Prevention and Trademark Protection Association.

Fake wine accounts for 20 to 50 per cent of the market share.

Popular methods of marketing fake products include producing counterfeit registered trademarks. Production can include the use of low-quality materials mixed with genuine products.

Modern technology gives producers of fake goods the opportunity to sell well-forged products, including official-looking wrapping and labelling.

However, the lack of a legal framework and technology to evaluate products, and ineffective co-operation between relevant ministries and agencies makes it difficult for authorised agencies to stamp out the production and trade of counterfeit products, according to the association.

“The lack of comprehensive co-operation by relevant agencies and essential tools to conduct their work hinders the fight against counterfeit products,” said Chairman of the Viet Nam Anti-Fake Production and Trademark Protection Association Le The Bao.

Meanwhile, businesses themselves paid little attention to protecting their products with registered trademarks, he said.

The association proposed the Ministry of Justice to give Market Watch groups the power to punish violators to help improve the situation rather than keeping that capacity solely with chairmen of local People’s Committees which is currently the case, he said.

“Businesses should actively work with authorised agencies to protect their trademarks,” Bao added.

Deputy Minister Tu proposed the establishment of a decree on punishing producers and traders of fake products.

It was also essential to review and finalise all legal regulations against counterfeit and low-quality products and supplement the regulations on prosecuting violators, he said.

“Increasing information dissemination to raise public and business awareness about protecting their legal rights is also important,” he added.

During the first six months of the year, market watch forces nationwide handled nearly 41,000 violation cases, according to the Ministry of Industry and Trade. – Vietnamnews

Tags: Vietnam counterfeit products