Each fake product released into the market not only damages the brand, robs the survival opportunities of genuine businesses, but also puts consumers in a situation of being scammed, even poisoned without knowing it.
More worryingly, many major cases recently discovered show a general pattern: Counterfeit goods bring huge profits, while sanctions are too light, mostly stopping at the level of administrative sanctions, although the Penal Code has stipulated a prison sentence of up to 15 years for the act of producing and trading counterfeit goods.
Another problem is that for a long time, we have been fighting counterfeit goods in a campaign-style manner, that is, chasing them in batches, launching them according to plan, taking place during a few peak months, then taking it easy, so we will "not win or lose" - as Minister of Health Dao Hong Lan said at the National Online Conference on evaluating the peak period of the fight against smuggling, trade fraud and counterfeit goods in the health sector on May 23.
So what is necessary at this time is to form an "ecosystem" to prevent and combat counterfeit goods in a sustainable way, in which technology must become a core tool, and the law must be an unforgettable fence.
First of all, it is necessary to promote the application of technological solutions to identify real and fake goods right from the production stage. G genuine businesses must be encouraged to use QR codes to trace the origin, anti-counterfeiting technology using electronic stamps, encryption, digital chips, etc. At the same time, build an open data portal so that consumers can easily check the origin of products.
Next, it is necessary to change the approach to sanctions. Instead of just administrative sanctions, criminal prosecution must be carried out for the act of producing and trading organized counterfeit goods, which is seriously fraudulent. Not only fines, but all illegal profits must be recovered, goods must be destroyed, and violations must be publicly disclosed on mass media to deter.
In particular, it is necessary to establish the consistent responsibility of law enforcement forces. From import, circulation to retail, there needs to be synchronous supervision, associated with specific personal responsibility... to limit the situation where management agencies blame each other when an incident occurs.
Anti-counterfeiting is not only a task of protecting the economy, but also a measure of legal discipline and market civilization. If not thoroughly handled from the root, the economy and consumer markets will be bound in an uncertain spiral.
