At the meeting of the Government Standing Committee on the afternoon of May 19, regarding the content of the development of the Law on Food Safety (amended), Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh stated that he smuggled and made hundreds of tons of counterfeit goods that the authorities did not know.
According to the Prime Minister, there are only 2 possibilities, one is no longer fighting will; the other is being bribed, having negativity; both of these things must be strictly handled.
Most likely, it was a bribe and reality has proven this.
Most recently, the Investigation Police Agency of the Ministry of Public Security has just prosecuted 5 defendants under the Department of Food Safety - Ministry of Health, including Mr. Nguyen Thanh Phong - former Director of the Department.
Officers of the Food Safety Department received bribes from a fake functional food production group.
The Prime Minister analyzed that smuggling and making hundreds of tons of counterfeit goods without the knowledge of the authorities, while to do this, there must be warehouses, buying and selling activities, and transportation.
The analysis is very reasonable, typically the case of being involved in the bribery of officials of the Department of Food Safety, according to the Investigation Agency's documents, since 2016, Nguyen Nang Manh, Do Manh Hoang, Khuc Minh Vu have organized and operated 9 companies, MediPhar Factory and MediUSA Factory to produce and consume counterfeit functional foods in an exceptionally large quantity, with diverse types.
Even if the factory has produced and consumed counterfeit goods for many years without the management agency knowing, there is no other way to answer than being bribed.
Many cases of counterfeit goods have been busted, but before that, consumers were victims and suffered the consequences. In the article "Fake milk, fake medicine, fake cigarette butts, only cancer is real" published on May 7, 2025, Lao Dong Newspaper frankly stated that, in a short time, there were many fake goods on the market, from functional foods, milk to medicine, and now more cigarette butts. All of these fake things will give birth to a real thing and increasingly higher, which is cancer patients.
The Prime Minister requested that "the production and trading of counterfeit goods must be strictly handled".
Handling individuals and organizations producing and trading counterfeit goods is clear. But more importantly, it is to deal with individuals and organizations "one is no longer fighting will; two is being bought at a bribe".
Therefore, any locality that has the existence of counterfeit goods production and trading establishments needs to clarify the responsibilities of leaders. If there is no action to prevent it, it shows that the leader is irresponsible or negative.
