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Deputy Minister Tran Van Tung. Photo: T.H

Speaking with the press on the sidelines of a conference on the prevention of trading fake food and consumer goods held in Ho Chi Minh City from April 2 to 5, Deputy Minister of Science and Technology Tran Van Tung said that part of Vietnam's efforts to combat fake and counterfeit goods was the organization of the annual conference with global organizations in the fight against fake goods in the field of consumer goods and beverages.

At this conference,experts shared methods of making fake goods in the Vietnamese market.Through the information at the conference, many countries saw the prestige and brand of Vietnamese products.If such goods do not guarantee quality,Vietnamese goods could be discredited later on.

Reporter: How does Vietnam need to coordinate with other countries to prevent trade fraud and counterfeit goods?

Deputy Minister Tran Van Tung: Coordinating with othercountries in detecting and preventing counterfeit and fake goods is extremely important. In fact, counterfeit goods are not restricted to a single country, counterfeit goods are brought to Vietnam from many countries around the world, even the most famous brands are also counterfeited and brought into Vietnam. Therefore, it is necessary to coordinate with other countries and businesses to identify counterfeit goods, while coordinating withintellectual property protection units andenforcement agencies to protect those products and take effective preventive measures. At the same time, coordinating with global trade organizations, IP protection organizations around the world, law enforcement agencies, to share and implement the legal provisions of Vietnam and other countries in fighting counterfeiting and fake goods brought here.

Reporter: What steps has Vietnam taken, and what difficulties were found in the implementation process?

Deputy Minister Tran Van Tung: Currently, Vietnam has regulations on anti-counterfeiting and fake goods that are very important, including the IP Law.

Vietnam's IP Law harmonizes global regulations on IP rights protection, especially trademark-related rights issues that are implemented under the Convention and international regulations. It is necessary to promote the enforcement of IP rights for businesses, for trademarks, for IP objectsin Vietnam.To implement this, there is effective coordination of Ministries and Branches, such as the Ministry of Science and Technology, Ministry of Public Security, Ministry of Industry and Trade.

In particular, the Government established the National Steering Committee on fighting against commercial fraud, counterfeit and fake goods. Thus,Vietnam is very interested in fighting against counterfeiting, IP infringement, working with other countries around the world to fight fake goods.

Reporter: In the past, Customs authorities have discovered many cases of illegal import and export of counterfeit goods and violations of IP, but handling these cases is very difficult.What’s the reason for this?

Deputy Minister Tran Van Tung: Customs is one of the most important state management units in fighting counterfeit and contraband goods in border areas and at border gates. The timely detection and prevention of importof counterfeit goods and smuggled goods into Vietnam contributes to protectingconsumers and domestic manufacturing enterprises.

However,the handlingof counterfeit and fakegoods found by Customs authorities has been difficult because the owners of the goodsdeny responsibility when they are caught, so the work of customs authorities is difficult. In addition, there are many steps and many related units, therefore, it takes a long time to handle the cases.

Reporter: Could you tell us about the methods of identification and prevention of fake goods, especially for consumer goods and food?

Deputy Minister Tran Van Tung: We want the authorities to strengthen the dissemination of information and awareness of consumers, to help them identify counterfeit and fake goods. There is a tool to identify fake and counterfeit goods, that istraceability.

Consumers should note there are national codes and barcodes on each product. For example, the Vietnamese goods have a bar code of 893.That shows they are Vietnamese products exported to other countries.

There is also QR codes on products, soconsumers can determine the origin of goods – the area they were harvested from and the factories that preserved or processed the goods.Thus, we can know whether the goods are real or not. Similarly, through examination tools for codes and barcodes,consumers also check the origin of foreign goods imported into Vietnam.