Smuggling medicine is increasing

	Strictly handle for violations on counterfeit and low quality medicine and supplemental food
	The Ministry of Health reorganizes the business of medicine subject to specialized control
	Customs strengthen on controlling medicine and cosmetics

Dozens of trucks transporting smuggled goods were seized.

It is still a concern

At the working session, Mr. Nguyen Van Nhien said that currently, the smuggling, trade fraud, and production and trading of counterfeit goods, low-quality goods, especially, for cosmetics, supplemental foods, medicine and traditional medicine are complexly taking place.

Also, Mr. Nhien said that the rate of detection and treatment of violations is still low. The violations are more and more complicated with sophisticated tricks, and take place on a large scale from urban to rural and mountainous areas. Violators have taken advantage of the shortcomings of the policies and mechanism, and loopholes in the management and restrictions of consumers to produce, distribute, establish lines, gangs for production and trade of these items.

Therefore, implementing the Prime Minister's Directive No. 17/CT-TTg, Mr. Nhien said that the Ministry of Health has inspected the State management for the pharmaceutical products, cosmetics, supplemental foods, medicines and traditional medicines. In addition, it has coordinated with relevant agencies to effectively prevent and combat the smuggling, production and trade of counterfeit goods, low-quality goods and over expiry date goods .

At the working session, Mr. Phan Lac Hoai Thanh, Deputy Director of Lang Son Health Department reported that in 2018, with the great efforts of the entire sector, the prevention and fight against trade frauds, counterfeit goods, and imitation goods in the field of medicine, cosmetics, and supplemental foods in Lang Son province has achieved positive results.

Accordingly, on 17 December 2018, the People's Committee of Lang Son province coordinated with the Investigation Police Department on Economic and Corruption-related Crimes under the Ministry of Public Security to seize 100 tons of smuggled goods, including automobile parts, home appliances, of which 43.7 tons of smuggled medicines.

Regarding the medicine smuggling, Mr. Hoang Van Tien, Chief Inspector of Lang Son Health Department said that over the past time, the smuggling of medicine in Lang Son has sign of increasing.

According to Mr. Tien, as per provisions of the Ministry of Health in Decree 54/2017/ND-CP stipulating a number of articles and measures on enforcement of the Pharmacy Law, if a business imports medicine, it shall carry out the import procedures at international border gates, including Huu Nghi International Border Gate (Cao Loc district, Lang Son province). However, in order to be allowed to import medicine via international border gate, the business shall satisfy a number of conditions. Therefore, many businesses face difficulties in carrying out procedures, so they have not legally imported but illegally imported medicine.

“If Vietnamese business must carry out the import procedures for medicine via Hu Nghi International Border Gate, it will increase the freight of Chinese business from Ai Diem Border Gate to Huu Nghi International Border Gate. Thereby, it not only reduces the rate of legal medicine imports, but also increases the risk of medicine smuggling, causing difficulties for control force, and failing to ensure requirements on quality inspection of products” - the Chief Inspector of Lang Son Health Department said.

Therefore, the Department has consulted with the People's Committee of Lang Son province to propose the Government for the pilot import of medicine via the Chi Ma- Ai Diem border check point, so that businesses do not have to import via the international border gate as per provisions in Decree 54/2017/ND-CP.

Regarding the inspection and supervision of the quality of medical products, cosmetics and supplemental foods in the province, Mr. Tien said that the Department took 613 samples of medicines, cosmetics, supplemental foods, of which, 612 eligible samples, accounting for 99.83%. The total of eligible samples was 250/254 samples, accounting for 98.4% of eligible samples and 1.6% of samples that were not eligible.

Deputy Chief Inspector Nguyen Van Nhien (black shirt in middle) is requesting to inspect foods for Tet holiday.

Also, the Chief Inspector of Lang Son Health Department said that from the beginning of 2018 to now, the Department has conducted 3 periodical interagency inspections and 2 random inspections for business establishments of drugs, cosmetics, supplemental foods and medicine, and handled 23 business establishments with the total fine amount contributed to the State budget of VND 76,550,000.

Many difficulties in management

For the actual situation at business establishments of medicine and supplemental foods, the Deputy Director of Lang Son Health Department said that some owners of establishments have not yet fully researched, understood and updated legal documents on fields; have not yet regularly inspected and controlled for the operation of establishments, so that they have still violated and are sanctioned administrative violations for subject errors, such as the trade of cosmetics without origin and over expiry date, pharmacy retailers selling drugs that do not meet preservation requirements stated on the medicine labels…

For the business establishments of medicine, traditional medicine, supplemental foods, these establishments mainly harvest, process or purchase these products from people, so the establishments’ owners do not carry out procedures and sale contracts.

The Deputy Director of Lang Son Health Department said that the management scope of the Health sector is very large, meanwhile business establishments of medicine, supplemental foods are increasing with sophisticated and complicated modes, especially the online business, causing difficulties in inspection and management.

In addition, the majority of business establishments are small establishments, and they do not have invoice and labels, so that the input quality inspection has not been ensured, the compliance and control is not good and there are expired goods. Almost all products do not have quality check sheets; the medicine and traditional medicine in clinics do not show clear origin.

Besides, Mr. Thanh added that currently, a number of business establishments of cosmetic and supplemental foods do not register and operate in the evening in the form of multi-level sales, or selling goods at their houses…, causing shortcomings in inspection and control.

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Some organizations and individuals after being granted the permits for organizing seminars on introduction of supplemental foods (issued by Department of Food Safety) have sold their products in villages with a much higher price than the actual right price at the seminars, or advertise and sell these products via social networking sites.

Regarding the verification for drugs, cosmetics and supplemental foods that do not meet standards and were detected, are products of the domestic production companies and drugs with single ingredient . The sampling for quality verification is difficult due to lack of funding.