At 7 am, the day before Tet when many small traders just opened, the working group of Market Management Team (QLTT) No. 1 was present on Ba Son street, Tam Thanh ward, Lang Son province.
Boxes of confectionery, soft drinks, and Tet jams that had just been displayed were required to present invoices and documents proving their origin.
Amidst the busy trading atmosphere of the days leading up to Tet, functional forces check labels, expiration dates, and storage conditions for each batch of goods.
At Ms. Dinh Thu Huong's convenience store (No. 13, Ba Son Street), in addition to checking the origin, the working group requested to sign a commitment to comply with commercial laws and implement commercial civilization, register business in the right industry; list and sell at listed prices; not bargain, price gouging; use standard measuring tools; not trade in prohibited goods, counterfeit goods, fake goods, goods of unknown origin.
Ms. Huong said that signing a commitment helps her to be more aware of her responsibilities in business.
Long-term business must maintain prestige. Tet is crowded with customers, but we still have to follow regulations to reassure customers," she said.
Talking to a reporter from Lao Dong Newspaper, Mr. Chu Ngoc Ha - Head of Market Management Team No. 1 of Lang Son said that the peak inspection period will be implemented from the beginning of December 2025, focusing on fairway points, warehouses, and transit centers to prevent smuggled and counterfeit goods from afar.
Compared to Tet last year, the market in the 4 central wards is more stable. Domestically produced goods account for the majority, with full labels. The main violations are preservation errors or lack of Vietnamese auxiliary labels," Mr. Ha said.
Fresh food prices have increased slightly, the rest are basically stable. The situation of transporting goods through trails and open paths is almost gone.
According to the peak plan to combat smuggling, trade fraud and counterfeit goods during the Binh Ngo Lunar New Year 2026 (from December 17, 2025 to February 10, 2026), Market Management Team No. 1 inspected 63 cases, handled 63 violations; total fines and sales of confiscated goods paid to the budget were more than 508 million VND; the value of goods forced to be destroyed was nearly 285 million VND.
The main acts are violations of food safety conditions, trading in smuggled goods, and counterfeit trademarks.
In which, on December 26, 2025, functional forces discovered a business household in Tam Thanh ward selling 9 used phones on the list of prohibited imports, worth nearly 45 million VND; the household owner was fined 30 million VND and forced to destroy exhibits.
At the end of January 2026, coordinating with forces 389 of the province, Market Management Team No. 1 inspected a truck and discovered 800 bags of sausages produced outside Vietnam without invoices or documents; the vehicle owner was fined 35 million VND and forced to destroy the violating goods.
Not only the Market Management force, in the peak month, functional forces throughout the province inspected and handled 480 violations, an increase of more than 134% compared to December 2025; administratively fined 398 cases with a total handling amount of nearly 9.7 billion VND; prosecuted 50 cases with 102 subjects.
Exhibits seized included poultry, firecrackers, drugs, food of unknown origin, counterfeit goods and smuggled goods.
The Provincial Steering Committee 389 assessed that in the coming time, consumer demand will continue to increase, e-commerce will develop strongly, with many potential risks.
Therefore, the forces will strengthen inter-sectoral coordination, tighten inspection, and prevent the formation of smuggling lines and hotspots, contributing to market stability and protecting consumer rights.
Amidst the spring colors coming on the border street, the quiet inspection steps of functional forces are the "fence" to protect each Tet feast of the people to be more peaceful and complete.
