On August 8, at the Government Office, Deputy Prime Minister Tran Luu Quang - Head of the National Steering Committee for Combating Smuggling, Trade Fraud, and Counterfeit Goods (Committee 389) - chaired a meeting with ministries, sectors, and relevant units on the work of combating smuggling and trade fraud.
The report at the conference showed that in the first six months of 2024, functional forces discovered and handled over 64,000 cases of smuggling, trade fraud, and counterfeit goods, down 2.82% from the same period in 2023; collected and paid over 600 billion dong into the state budget, down 7.53%.
Functional forces have initiated criminal proceedings in 650 cases involving 1,912 individuals, down 44.25% in the number of cases and 18.82% in the number of individuals.
The General Department of Customs and the Ministry of National Defense warned that drug-related crimes continue to be complex at border checkpoints and through air routes. The perpetrators use increasingly sophisticated methods, operate in an organized and secretive manner, and are reckless.
The Ministry of Public Security assessed that the situation of gold smuggling and smuggling of essential goods, such as gasoline and oil, tends to decrease due to the implementation of drastic measures to crack down on smuggling rings in recent times.
However, a phenomenon of exploiting and exporting rare minerals, such as rare earth, in violation of regulations is emerging, resulting in the loss of national resources. Therefore, the Ministry of Public Security requested localities to strictly manage the exploitation and quantity of minerals exploited by enterprises in their respective localities.
At the conference, HCMC requested functional forces to strengthen inspections and handle violations in the field of e-commerce; clearly define the responsibilities of e-commerce platforms and sellers on these platforms to store all transaction records to serve inspections, supervision, and investigation by functional forces when necessary.
In his closing speech, Deputy Prime Minister Tran Luu Quang required functional forces to be more resolute and coordinate better in the work of combating smuggling, trade fraud, and counterfeit goods, emphasizing the role of leaders.
Ministries, sectors, and localities must strengthen inspections and supervision to promptly detect legal loopholes and mistakes to remind functional forces in the implementation of public service ethics; regularly pay attention to and improve the capacity of functional forces, particularly their ability to apply information technology.
Deputy Prime Minister hoped that the press would continue to innovate in the form of propaganda to raise awareness, making citizens become smart consumers.
Regarding the completion of relevant legal regulations on the work of combating smuggling, trade fraud, and counterfeit goods, Deputy Prime Minister required ministries, sectors, and localities to focus on reviewing outdated regulations and send them to three addresses: the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Commerce, and the Ministry of Finance to handle according to their authority; if any content exceeds their authority, they should report to the competent authority for consideration and decision.
Deputy Prime Minister requested ministries, sectors, and localities to promote the application of digital technology to promptly detect and handle smuggling, trade fraud, and counterfeit goods in the context of e-commerce development.
At the same time, they should strengthen international cooperation and learn from international experience in combating smuggling, trade fraud, and counterfeit goods.
