Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh urged the country’s anti-counterfeit task force to devise new ways to fight fake goods, trade fraud and smuggling, the government said in a statement.
The pledge yesterday came as Vietnam is in talks to avoid crippling US tariffs, offering Washington multiple measures to address long-standing concerns, including on intellectual property breaches and transhipment of Chinese goods through the country.
Internal documents reviewed by Reuters showed the government last month instructed officials to step up the fight against counterfeits, digital piracy and the transhipment of Chinese goods to the United States, which Vietnamese officials often refer to as trade fraud.
The government said fraud was widespread and was increasing on online platforms, noting how recent cases of fake milk, food and supplement products had “seriously affected people’s health and social order”.
The government said 1,100 cases of counterfeit and intellectual property violations, 25,100 cases of trade and tax fraud and 8,200 cases of smuggling contraband and prohibited articles had been detected this year.
There were no comparative figures in the statement.
“Smuggling and illegal cross-border transportation of goods remains complicated,” the government said. — Reuters
