Hanoi (VNA) - Market surveillance units last year cracked a numberof major counterfeit rings countrywide as the fight against trade frauds tookplace on a scale never seen before, Deputy Prime Minister Truong Hoa Binh said.

He was speaking at a meeting to review 2019 tasks of the Vietnam Directorate ofMarket Surveillance in Hanoi on January 13.

According to the Directorate’s report, last year, 90,000 violations werediscovered, and 500 billion VND (21.6 million USD) in confiscated goods andadministrative fines were contributed to the State budget.

Deputy PM Binh praised the Directorate’s efforts which included the capture oftwo containers holding a large amount of frozen animal innards withquestionable origins in Hanoi on December 30, inspections into severalwell-known clothing stores’ fraudulent practice of putting “Made in Vietnam”tags, or the break-ups of a large-scale sugar smuggling ring in An Giang andneighbouring localities.

Aside from the achievements, Deputy PM Binh has emphasised several weaknessesthe market surveillance force need improve.

The professional capacity of surveillance staff remains uneven and there isdefinitely a small group of officials lacking in responsibility and showingsigns of cover-ups, who have been dealt with, Binh said.

The directorate’s human resources as well as its infrastructure and equipmentremains insufficient, which hampers the efforts in fighting counterfeitproducts and trade frauds, Binh said, adding that improvements must also bemade quickly to market surveillance-related legal documents to appropriatelyrespond to ever-changing real-life situation.

The Directorate will need to be more prepared and better itself against the complicateddevelopments of trade frauds, fake goods and food safety violations in 2020, Binhsaid.

Market surveillance authorities must be categorically resolute in removing fromits force any official or staff who transgresses against the law, commits bureaucraticharassments while on duty or fails to complete their missions, Binh said,ordering a construction of a “strong, corruption-free” market surveillanceforce.

He asked the Directorate to follow orders from the Government, the PrimeMinister, the National Steering Committee to fight smuggling, commercial fraudsand counterfeit goods (National Committee 389) and the Ministry of Industry andTrade to effectively deal with these issues, in order to create favourableconditions for businesses and better protect consumers’ interests.

Market surveillance units were also told to cooperate with local governments aswell as the police, customs and tax authorities, border guards to fight againstlow-quality products, trade of forbidden products and food safety violationcases, the Deputy PM said.

Application of information technology and robust cooperation withinternational partners should also be a focus in the new era, Binh said.

Deputy PM Binh has assigned the Government Office to compile the directorate’sproposals on the support it needs to function better – including partialretention of the ‘revenues’ from administrative fines issued, support fromlocal governments to facilitate the construction of local market surveillanceunits, and use of vehicles with priority badges – and forward to relevantauthorities./.