Market management officers inspect goods in a supermarket in Tuyên Quang Province. — VNA/VNS Photo

HÀ NỘI — The market management force will enhance activities to prevent and control smuggling, trade fraud and the production of counterfeit goods from now until the end of the year, as per directions from the Government and Ministry of Industry and Trade, said the General Department of Market Management.

Accordingly, the force will focus on monitoring, inspecting, and handling violations in the e-commerce environment, strengthening market information dissemination, enhancing trade promotion, developing rice export markets and stabilising the domestic market in the current period.

In particular, the force continues to prevent and strictly handle violations of illegally trading and transporting pigs across the border into Việt Nam, and improve the efficiency of state management of petroleum to ensure the supply of petroleum for the production and business activities of enterprises and people's daily activities.

According to the general department, market management forces will coordinate with local authorities to improve the effectiveness of market inspection and control, and handle violations, especially targeting smugglers and checking warehouses storing prohibited, smuggled, unknown origin and counterfeit goods.

The general department will focus on implementing the project on anti-counterfeiting and consumer protection in e-commerce until 2025.

Additionally, international cooperation will be ramped up, including the implementation of the Memorandum of Understanding on cooperation between the Ministry of Industry and Trade and China’s General Administration of Market Management.

According to the general department’s statistics, as of August this year, the market management force has detected and handled 37,960 violations, an increase of 36 per cent, and collected fines of VNĐ344 billion (US$14 million), increasing by 59 per cent compared to the same period last year, and confiscated goods worth VNĐ143 billion ($5.8 million).

In HCM City, the force discovered and seized tens of thousands of cosmetic products with signs of counterfeit brands worth nearly VNĐ2 billion ($82,000), confiscated 6,877 imported cigars of all kinds, six bottles of Johnnie Walker Blue Label whiskey, 74,400 units of imported children's toys, and 700 boxes of complementary foods without invoices or documents proving their origin.

However, up to now, the effectiveness of inspection and handling of violations in many places, especially in some key areas, is not high.

The management and handling of assets that are evidence and means of administrative violations in some localities is still confusing, not closely following the provisions of law and regulations of the general department. — VNS