HCM CITY — Fake and imitation goods are openly sold in many places in HCM City, with their sellers making huge profits.

Shops on Phạm Văn Chiêu Street in Gò Vấp District and on Trường Chinh Street in Tân Bình District, for instance, sell watches and sunglasses ostensibly made by brands like Chanel, Hermes, Gucci, Dior, Rolex, and Omega for VNĐ200,000 to VNĐ300,000 each.

They even issue warranty cards to customers.

But the shop owners freely admit that the goods are from Guangzou in China and brought into Việt Nam over the northern land border.

Nguyễn Minh Tấn, the owner of a shop selling sunglasses sellers, said he could earn bigger profits by flying to Guangzou and buying directly from their Chinese manufacturers at much lower prices.

According to the Steering Board for Combating Smuggling, Fraudulent Trading and Counterfeit Goods, this year authorities have discovered over 80,000 cases of frauds and fake goods, and fined violators VNĐ7.4 trillion (nearly US$320 million).

Nguyễn Văn Cẩn, head of the customs bureau, said criminal charges were pressed in 30 cases of smuggling, fraud and trading of fake goods, and fines of nearly VNĐ116 billion were collected.

Better control of fake goods

The huge profits from fake goods mean smugglers and sellers of fake goods resist market management authorities.

A customs officer from the HCM City Market Management Division said fake goods sellers and smugglers watch the division’s office to spot the launch of inspections and warn shopkeepers to hide their smuggled and fake goods.

Two week ago smugglers in the central province of Nghệ An shot and injured two soldiers when border guards confronted them when they were transporting heroin from Laos.

In the southern province of Bình Dương, cigarette traffickers rammed their car into police vehicles, injuring six officers who tried to apprehend them.

The HCM City Market Management Division said authorities have discovered and seized a dozen tonnes of smuggled goods including sunglasses, garments and foods carrying famous brand names such as Chanel, Hermes, Gucci, Dior, Rolex, and Omega.

There were no invoices, receipts or documents for the goods, a spokesman for the division said.

Meanwhile, customs officers at the international airports in HCM City, Hà Nội and Đà Nẵng regularly find high-value goods like gold, cigars, cosmetics, foreign currencies, and wildlife products being smuggled into the country.

The sea routes to Hải Phòng, Quảng Ninh, Đà Nẵng, and HCM City are also used to bring in a lot of smuggled and fake goods, the division said.

Nguyễn Văn Bách, deputy chief of the division, said his officers collaborate with other agencies in the city to discover the tricks adopted by smugglers and fake goods manufacturers and sellers and to persuade the public to inform authorities about these crimes. — VNS