Fight against origin fraud and rising problems - Part 3: Review of foreign goods "disguised" Vietnamese goods

	The fight against origin fraud and its problems Part 2: The tricks of origin fraud
	The fight against origin fraud and raised issues - Part 1: When the war of the "giants" broke out
	Twelve products may face trade origin fraud investigation: Authority

Fake goods seized by the Customs of HCM City on January 3, 2020 at Cat Lai port. Photo: T.H

Chinese electric rice cookers, box speakers and LED lights scrambled to tag Vietnamese goods

Not only in 2019, but formany years, the Customs sector has been proactive and actively fighting frauds and counterfeits of Vietnamese goods. The Department of Investigation against smuggling and customs in some areas has discovered and handled many violations.

In 2016, the Customs inspected the shipment of imported LEDs of a company and discovered 18 sets of LED accessories and1,030 LEDs made in China. But the packaging showed Vietnamese origin.

Finished mobile phone charger cords imported from China but inscribed "Made in Vietnam" discovered by Hai Phong Customs in July 2019. Photo: T. Binh.

In 2017, Customs authorities detected a lot of similar violations. A company importing the product "speaker, new phone charger, made in China" had a C/O form E (Certificate of Origin of China). When conducting a physical inspection, on the product box and on the goods, the word "Made in Vietnam" was printed on the product.

In other cases, the import of "fiberglass mesh tape used in construction and made in China" has C/O form E. When conducting a physical inspection of goods, detecting goods labels on their packages and packaging containing goods showing the place of production of goods is Vietnam ("Made in Vietnam").

Or a company imported 2,000 rice cookers from China but on the label of goods showing origin of Vietnam.

Hieu Nghia Import Export Joint Stock Company imported from China 1,600 pairs of shoes on the product labeled "Made in Vietnam".

Chinese goods have been manufactured in Ha Dong (Hanoi)

In 2018, Customs continued to detect many cases of violations of origin.

BaoTien An General Trading Co., Ltd. imported from China 3,300 sets of locks branded as Viet Tiep Lock, with 1,560 gas valves stamped and tested by Bao Minh Insurance Corporation of Vietnam.

Tran Vuong Import & Export Co., Ltd declared imported speakers combined with sound recording and reproducing equipment, 100% new goods of Chinese origin, with the value of goods recorded on the declaration was US$ 10,217. However, when Customs checked, there were 600 pull-in speakers and 1,200 microphones, on the carton and microphone with Vietnamese recordings with the content "NANOMAX Speaker", the name of a company in HCM City and the brand "Made in Vietnam".

Functional forces determined Tran Vuong Import and Export Co., Ltd. made a false declaration on the name, capacity, quantity, brand and origin of goods. The case is awaiting to be prosecuted as a criminal case.

In the case of ThanhQuy Import Export Company Limited and Aeolus Henan Trading Co., Ltd., imported goods from China, but on the products, it shows famous Vietnamese brands such as: 2,880 ballpoint pens with Thien Long trademark, 438 sets of door handles at Huy Hoang, 287 lines of aviation declared customs suspected as counterfeit labels. The case has been prosecuted by the customs office for criminal cases and transferred to competent agencies.

The case of H.T Co., Ltd. imported sixcontainers of unglazed ceramic tiles, 100% new, made in China. But on the packaging, the product showedthe word "Made in Vietnam" with the trademark ROYALGRESPORCELANTATO, produced in My XuanA Industrial Park, Tan Thanh District (Ba Ria-Vung Tau).

To be even tougher, there were cases of four trucks transporting a large consignment from the northern border into Vietnam, estimated goods were about 100 tonnes, including clothes, motorbike parts, electric bicycles and household electrical appliances. All of them were of Chinese origin, but many products were labelled as Vietnamese, even some products clearly stating that they are manufactured in HaDong district (Hanoi) with a one-year warranty, certified standard, high quality Vietnamese goods.

Goods imported from China attach "Made in Vietnam"

In 2019, HaiPhong Customs Department detected two typical cases related to goods origin fraud. In July 2019, the Customs Branch of HaiPhong port area 3 discovered and seized a container of Chinese phone accessories containing many fake products made in Vietnam. The phone accessories and products were imported by Hoang BaoPhat IMEX Co., Ltd. (located in Tam Thanh Ward, Lang Son City) to an enterprise based in Hanoi. When carrying out import procedures, Hoang BaoPhat IMEX Co., Ltd. presented to the customs office a Certificate of Origin (C/O) form E (made in China).

Despite declaring goods were imported from China and have Chinese C / O, but inspecting the container, the Customs force discovered thousands of pre-printed phone accessories on packaging, product names and addresses and also the warranty centre of Vietnam Trade Joint Stock Company "TITAN" - a local enterprise dealing in mobile phone components and accessories. Notably, on many products, there was also the inscription "Made in Vietnam" and the symbol of Vietnam barcode (barcode symbol 893).

In early May 2019, the Customs Department of HaiPhong port area 1 discovered a fake shipment of origin. It was a temporary shoe container imported from China. Specifically, the shoe container branded TOPPER, the inside of the shoe has a white stamp with the words "Made in Vietnam" with information in Argentinian.

The shipment was declared by Lac Lac Co., Ltd. (located in Hanoi) to fill in the procedures for temporary import for re-export with information on the sport shoes of all kinds and origin in Vietnam. However, detailed inspection from customs authorities found that the shipment contained suspicious signs of the trademark or origin of goods.

The goods name and bill of lading showed the origin of Vietnam while the port of loading is Xiamen port (China); bill of lading showed information "PO # CARTON NO. MPORTER: ALPARGATAS S.A.I.C MADE IN VIETNAM”. Facing these doubts, Customs turned the actual inspection flow on the shipment. Inspection results, quantity and types of goods were strictly declared; on the shoes were TOPPER, inside the shoe has a white stamp with the words "Made in Vietnam" with information in Argentinian.