Alarming increase in online trading of counterfeit cosmetics

	Strengthen anti-smuggling of fake medicine and cosmetics
	Changes in the fight against "bad" cosmetics and functional foods

Products and tools for clearing expiry date and printing new expiry date were seized by the Market Surveillance force on July 9.

Expiry date of expired cosmetics are extended for several years

Over the past time, the law enforcement forces (Market Surveillance and Police forces) and border and inland localities have developed a plan for preventing and combating counterfeit goods, goods of unknown origin, and goods infringing intellectual property rights and the Prime Minister's Project on anti-counterfeit goods and consumer protection in e-commerce until 2025. Many individuals who set up accounts to trade goods via social networks and e-commerce platforms have been handled by the enforcement authorities.

Notably, on July 11, the Market Surveillance Team No. 2, Market Surveillance Department of Hai Phong City cooperated with the Economy and Position-Related Crime Investigating Police Department, Hai An District Police, to conduct inspection for Hong Anh cosmetics store located at Cho Lung Street, Dang Hai Ward, Hai An District, Hai Phong City.

At the time of inspection, Ms. Le Thi Thu Hong introduced and sold cosmetic products on the Facebook named “Hong Anh specialized in branded products”. During the inspection, the working team detected 2,121 cosmetic products including lipstick, lotion, serum... with original labels in foreign languages and without secondary labels in Vietnamese, total value of goods worth more than VND364 million.

Not only selling goods of unknown origin and smuggled goods, many business establishments and places for gathering dozens of tons of goods as raw materials for cosmetic products and finished toothpaste products of unknown origin and expired goods have been detected by enforcement authorities.

Recently, in Hanoi, on July 9, 2024, the Hanoi Market Surveillance Force coordinated with the Economy-Related Crime Investigating Police Team of Bac Tu Liem District Police to seize more than 50,000 expired cosmetic products and toothpaste at five stores in Nguyen Dinh Tu street, Xuan Dinh ward, Bac Tu Liem district, Hanoi. The law enforcement authorities identified that the business owner as Mr. Lai Vu Thang, 36, residing at No. 58 lane 401 Xuan Dinh street, Xuan Dinh ward, Bac Tu Liem district.

During the inspection, the enforcement authorities discovered that there were many products such as cosmetics, shampoo, children's toothpaste branded ACLEAF Repair toner, OHBT, MAMACOS, O-ZONE... made in foreign countries. Notably, the enforcement authorities detected a large volume of O-ZONE children's toothpaste and cosmetics that were cleared the expired dates and printed and stamped with new expiry dates longer several years with the former expiry dates. Working with the working team, the business owner could not present invoices and documents proving the legal origin of all goods.

Need to connect and exchange data

Regarding inspection and examination of e-commerce activities, the Department of E-Commerce and Digital Economy, Ministry of Industry and Trade has discovered many illegal activities related to livestream sales of unknown goods and fake goods. The department requested to remove 23,239 products on e-commerce trading floors, and required e-commerce trading floors to terminate the operation of 6,254 stores. In addition, the department transferred to the Police to investigate and fine 346 violating websites and e-commerce platforms.

The representative of Department of E-Commerce and Digital Economy proposed solutions to improve legal policies for multi-industry and multi-sector social networking platforms that allow livestream and online sales. The Ministry of Information and Communications should supplement regulations on electronic identification for entities whose platforms allow livestream and online sales. Moreover, social networking platforms need to regulate accounts used on social networks for private purposes and accounts used for business purposes.

The control of e-commerce or traditional commerce both faces certain difficulties. Therefore, management agencies need to understand the database, output and input of transactions to manage for e-commerce activities.

According to the representative of the Department of E-Commerce and Digital Economy, the Ministry of Industry and Trade runs the e-commerce management information portal, which is a very large database. However, since the Prime Minister issued Directive No. 18/CT-TTg dated May 30, 2023 on promoting data connection and sharing to serve the development of e-commerce and prevent revenue loss and ensure monetary security, ministries and branches have expedited the data connection and sharing, which has brought certain results.

For example, the Ministry of Finance has shares tax codes, the Ministry of Public Security has shared VNeID... to supports the authenticity of the identity of an entity when implementing e-commerce activities.

The Ministry of Industry and Trade has transferred to the Ministry of Finance (General Department of Taxation) and the Ministry of Public Security more than 900 websites of e-commerce trading floor; and about 300 applications providing e-commerce services.