LẠNG SƠN  — Tân Thanh Border Gate’s customs staff in the northern province of Lạng Sơn, in co-ordination with local functional forces, have seized 280 packages of goods suspected of being fake Thai goods, a representative of the General Department of Customs said.

The General Department of Customs said that Tân Thanh Border Gate’s customs force at 10.30am on Thursday discovered 8,400 thermos cups printed with the words "Made in Thailand" at three kiosks in Hữu Nghị Market at Saigon-Lạng Sơn Trade Centre.

Lạng Sơn customs discover 8,400 thermos cups printed with the words "Made in Thailand" at three kiosks in Hữu Nghị Market in the Saigon-Lạng Sơn Trade Center. —VNA/VNS Photo

Customs forces also seized three printing tools, 13 printing frames and 16 printing-ink boxes.

Customs staff discovered that eight individuals were printing logos (similar to Versace, Burberry and Starbucks brands) on the thermos cups.

They said that they were hired by a unidentified man to work in shifts and were paid money after every shift.

Hữu Nghị Market’s management board said that a Chinese national had rented three kiosks and paid VNĐ93.5 million (about US$4,000) in rental costs for three months from July to September.

Tôn Văn Hà, deputy head of Tân Thanh Border Gate’s Customs Department, said the department would check and handle the goods according to Vietnamese law as there were signs of violations of Vietnamese law.

Meanwhile, the customs office in the northern province of Quảng Ninh inspected two big trading centres in Móng Cái City and found many goods with suspected intellectual property violations.

On Thursday, the provincial General Department of Market Management, in co-coordination with the police department and border guard command, inspected an ASEAN shopping store on Hòa Bình Avenue in Trần Phú Ward in Móng Cái City, and the Hồng Nguyên Shopping Centre.

At the time of inspection, representatives of both shopping centres could not produce invoices proving the origin of goods.

The functional forces' initial investigations showed that most goods had intellectual property violations, especially brand infringement of famous company names on watches, eyeglasses, cosmetics, shoes and jewelry.

The value of the goods was estimated at several tens of billion đồng.

“A Patek Phillipe watch was being offered at a price of VNĐ400 million (US$17,200), but an image was sent to an expert in the brand who confirmed that it was fake,” said a market management official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity.

Expanding the inspections of labour at Hồng Nguyên Shopping Centre, the local functional forces discovered that 94 foreign labourers were working without licences and 16 Vietnamese employees had no labour contracts.

Customs staff have seized all goods at the two centres. — VNS