Seminar looks at ways to curb counterfeit goods

HCM CITY — Fake goods are increasingly available on the domestic market, damaging consumer interest and creating problems for businesses that want to protect their trademarks, a seminar heard on Monday.

Counterfeit goods that are available in HCM City are very diverse, including cheap and high quality items, consumer products and input materials for production, Nguyen Thanh Binh, head of HCM City's office of Intellectual Property Department said at an intellectual property seminar in the city.

The Department said the popular fake goods such as wine, medicine, foodstuffs, fertiliser and plant seeds have a negative impact on consumers and factory workers' health.

Recently the Department has uncovered a string of large fake goods cases including tens of thousands of bottles of fake wine, hundreds of thousands of pirated disks and hundreds of fake handbags and watches.

The fake products were displayed on sale for as little as one-seventh of the real price and were widespread in stores, markets, supermarkets, trade centres, offices and every house, the department said.

Fake wines have become more sophisticated thanks to technological advances.

Nguyen Thi Kim Le, director of Toan Thanh Ltd Co which is an importer and distributor of White Care brand shower products, said though the company had registered intellectual property rights for their products, they were still getting copied.

Currently, more than 10 production facilities fake the White Care products and they are sold at half the price of real products. But the factories were difficult to trace because they used fake addresses and phone numbers on their labels. Both businesses and consumers suffered from fakes, Le said.

The Intellectual Property Department would need to collaborate with other departments to tighten the issuance of business licenses to prevent copies from being sold on supermarket shelves.

Bach Van Mung, head of the Competition Management Department said first the legal system and documentation must be improved to protect consumer interests and prevent violations of intellectual property rights.

He also pointed out that market management forces lacked staff to investigate fake products and the current penalties weren't enough to deter people.

Mung said the consumers must protect themselves and say "no" to fake and low-quality products. Buying only genuine products would benefit consumers and aid the country's economic development.

He said more coordination between the State, business and consumers was needed to raise awareness of the issue.

Le Danh Vinh, deputy minister of Industry and Trade, said many consumers did not know which departments or organisations protect consumer interests. A draft law on consumer protection is expected to be submitted to the National Assembly for consideration in the coming session.

The seminar held by the Viet Nam Competition Authority under the Ministry of Industry and Trade, was part of activities to mark the International Day for Protection of Consumer Interest. — VNS