Hanoi (VNA) 🦄– Smuggling, counterfeit goods, and trade fraud became increasingly sophisticated in the first ten months of this year, according to Nguyen Van Can, Deputy Head of General Department of Vietnam Customs (GDC).

Can, who is also Chief of the Office of the National Steering Committee on Prevention and Control of Smuggling, Trade Fraud and Fake Commodities (Committee 389), made the remark during a conference on the issue held on November 11 in Hanoi. According to him, the smuggling of drugs , explosives, firecrackers, violent toys and cosmetics emerged in border areas and border gates in the northern and northern central regions, wood and wild animals were trafficked in border areas in the central and Central Highlands regions and while cigarettes and sugar were illegally transported via the southwest border. The smuggling of petrol, coal, ores, cosmetics and supplementary good became popular in international waters, he added. Can also raised an alert on the issue of fake fertilisers and plant protection chemicals, saying that Vietnam is home to nearly 1,000 enterprises with about 16,000 agents involving in fertiliser trading but competent agencies just detected 3,000 cases and only 11of them were prosecuted. The committee will increase inspections on and tighten control over smuggling, counterfeit goods and trade fraud from now to the yearend, especially before, during and after the Lunar New Year 2016 , he noted. According to the committee’s statistics, about 169,000 cases of smuggling and trade fraud were detected in the first 10 months of this year, a year-on-year increase of 5.6 percent. More than 10 trillion VND (over 450 million USD) from fining violators and selling confiscated goods was contributed to the State budget.-VNA