Lang Son Customs: Counterfeit goods originating from auxiliary border gates

	Tan Thanh Customs coordinates to seize nearly 2,000 tablets of synthetic narcotics
	Lang Son Customs has new director
	Lang Son: Smuggled goods are absent at trail and tracks

Tan Thanh Customs Sub-Department officials raided and seized 8,400 fake heat-keeping cups of Thai origin on July 7. Photo: H. Suffice.

Thorough control

According to Mr. Vy Cong Tuong, Deputy Director of Lang Son Customs Department, the locality managed by the sub-department of Lang Son Customs Department always had the potential risk ofviolations of originfraudandcounterfeit goods labels.In particular, HuuNghi border-gate Customs Sub-Department was one of the international roadbordergateswith a large volume of import and export goods, large means of transport and passengers and owners always took advantage ofconditions to import and transitgoodsinfringing onintellectual propertyandorigin.In some auxiliary border gates close to China,somesuspectstook advantage of terrain to bring,carry papooseand clothes, shoes, bags, household electrical appliances withfakeinternationalbrands into Vietnam.

For strict control, Lang Son Customs directed border-gate customs sub-departments to intensify measures to check, supervise and apply risk management criteria in the process of customs clearance with import and export goods. In particular, the unit has focused on checking the declaration of owners on the customs declarations about goods names, trademarks, origin, quality, labels, expiry dates of products, packaging, screening the results of actual goods inspection with relevant documents in the customs dossier. At the same time, Lang Son Customs coordinated with functional forces to strengthen inspection and examination and handle violations such as smuggling, domestic circulation of foreign manufactured goods but attaching labels "made in Vietnam"to defraud and cheat consumers.

At Tan Thanh border gate, Ms. Dao Thu Lan, Director of Tan Thanh Customs Sub-Department, said that the unit had reviewed and controlled the border gate area, especially the auxiliary border gates and opening the way to stop fake consumer goodsand fashionon origin, labels carried over trails and shortcuts. At the same time, the unit also arranged the officials to block critical locations to control the illegal transport of goods across the border.

Difficulties in handling

According to Mr. Vy Cong Tuong, the handling of administrative violations for transit service providers in case of transit of counterfeit intellectual property goods that the owner did not present in Vietnam caused complaints, and petitions of transit service providers for transportation, including transit of counterfeiting- trademark goods, as stipulated in Article 12 of Decree 99/2013/ND-CP.

Besides, the determination of the value of counterfeit goods and geographical indicationscomplying with the provisions of Point d, Clause 2, Article 60 of the Law on Handling of Administrative Violations and relevant instructiondecreesisstill unclear. Meanwhile, in Clause 3,Article 7 and Clause 4, Article 9 of Decree No. 43/2017/ND-CPof the Government on goods labeling stipulates:“Goods imported into Vietnam which not shown or shown inadequately compulsory contents in Vietnameseon labelsmust have supplementary labels.Goods imported into Vietnamwiththeir original labelsnot in accordance with the provisions of this Decreemust have additional labels, when make circulation and keep the original label."

In this regard, Mr. Vy Cong Tuong said that in the case of imported goods without origination on labels, the Customs could not sanction, the Statemanagement agenciescould onlydetect violations and sanctionin the process of goods circulation. This led to difficulties in dealing with imported goods with signs of fraud on the origin for customs authorities.

In particular, the arrest and handling of smuggling cases still faces difficulties, because suspectsoften escape to China when they detect to prevented, obstructed at trails, openings,therefore, investigation and verification to find the owners to handleare difficult.Or the smugglers use tricks to divide goodsinto small lots, barrels and small quantities,when they are seized with low value, collected evidencesare not enough to prosecute.

Therefore, Mr. Vy Cong Tuong said that it was necessary to continue to improve the role of managing import and export goods with risks of fake origin and intellectual property.At the same time, identify and build key items, key enterprises to set uprisk criteria, so, we hope tocontrol frauds,taking advantage of policies to import and transport illegally counterfeiting-origin goods.