"Holds when checking, resells when it is quiet"
At Saigon Square Shopping Center (District 1), stalls, although not public, still sell products with famous brand labels at prices only a fraction of genuine goods.
When asked about the origin, a trader admitted: "We checked and took them down and hid them carefully. But when regular customers come, they still take goods from inside and out to sell normally. A handbag can be imported for several hundred thousand, selling for 4-5 times more".
At Ben Thanh market, items such as handbags, leather wallets, glasses, watches, etc. are publicly sold. Although they do not have a brand hieu, just ask " loai do", many stalls will immediately introduce products with clear logos, eye-catching designs with the commitment "good goods, like genuine".
Despite knowing the violation, many traders still accept "betting". High profits and demand from domestic tourists and consumers make counterfeit and counterfeit goods difficult to completely eliminate.
Continuously checking, violations still recur
On May 29 and June 13, the Working Group of the Market Management Department (under the Department of Domestic Market Management and Development) conducted a surprise inspection at Saigon Square. Thereby, the authorities continued to discover a number of tea and beverage businesses selling products with signs of counterfeiting trademarks registered for protection in Vietnam.
Mr. Nguyen Quang Huy - Deputy Head of the Ho Chi Minh City Market Management Department (under the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Industry and Trade) said that the situation of counterfeit goods trading is still common not only in Saigon Square but also in many other areas. According to him, the reason comes from the fact that a part of consumers still want to buy fake goods because of cheap prices, while traders are willing to accept risks for big profits.
"Some people know that it is fake but still buy it because they want to own a brand-name product without being able to pay for the real goods" - Mr. Huy said.
Although the fine has increased according to regulations, for the seller, it is just a "business cost". When the profit is much higher than the fine, reoffending is understandable.
According to Mr. Huy, counterfeit goods supply lines are now becoming more and more sophisticated. Goods are transported through many intermediaries, constantly changing the form of distribution, making it very difficult to take them by unit. Meanwhile, the inspection work has mainly stopped at the surface, not completely dismantling the supply chain.
Ms. Pham Khanh Phong Lan - Director of the Department of Food Safety Management of Ho Chi Minh City assessed the fight against counterfeit goods as an "unbalanced war". The enforcement force is still thin, while the market is large and there is always a way to "circumvent" regulations.
"Currently, we are still fighting counterfeit goods with the main slogan. The inspection force is weak, consumers are favoring cheap. When a business violates the law, when it is fined, it only abandons the old company, establishes a new company and then continues to violate the law" - Ms. Lan stated the reality.
According to her, consumers react more strongly when counterfeit goods are related to health and food safety. However, with non-essential goods, buyers can easily accept them because of the "good price" and beautiful design.
