In the first 10 months of 2024, the Market Management Department nationwide inspected over 61,000 cases and handled 41,725 ​​violations. Of which, violations related to e-commerce increased.

E-commerce violations on the rise

According to the latest data from the Ministry of Industry and Trade, in the first 10 months of 2024, the force Market management Nationwide, 61,079 cases were inspected, 41,725 ​​violations were detected and handled. The total amount of money handled was more than 777 billion VND (up 19% over the same period in 2023); of which, administrative fines were 404 billion VND (up 9%), the value of confiscated goods was nearly 187 billion VND (up 9%), the value of goods forced to be destroyed was over 186 billion VND (up 69%), and the state budget was 479 billion VND (up 11%).

Notably, in the first 10 months of 2024, the number of administrative violations in the fields of prohibited goods, smuggled goods, counterfeit goods, health care, prices, price listing, measurement standards, and product labels detected by the Market Management force decreased compared to the same period in 2023. However, violations of origin, infringement of intellectual property rights, food safety, agriculture, and especially e-commerce increased compared to the same period in 2023.

In the first 10 months of 2024, the Market Management Department nationwide inspected over 61,000 cases and handled 41,725 ​​violations. Of which, violations related to e-commerce increased.

E-commerce violations on the rise

According to the latest data from the Ministry of Industry and Trade, in the first 10 months of 2024, the force Market management Nationwide, 61,079 cases were inspected, 41,725 ​​violations were detected and handled. The total amount of money handled was more than 777 billion VND (up 19% over the same period in 2023); of which, administrative fines were 404 billion VND (up 9%), the value of confiscated goods was nearly 187 billion VND (up 9%), the value of goods forced to be destroyed was over 186 billion VND (up 69%), and the state budget was 479 billion VND (up 11%).

Notably, in the first 10 months of 2024, the number of administrative violations in the fields of prohibited goods, smuggled goods, counterfeit goods, health care, prices, price listing, measurement standards, and product labels detected by the Market Management force decreased compared to the same period in 2023. However, violations of origin, infringement of intellectual property rights, food safety, agriculture, and especially e-commerce increased compared to the same period in 2023.

Mr. Tran Huu Linh - General Director General Department of Market Management (Ministry of Industry and Trade) - said that with increasingly sophisticated methods and tricks of operation, most of the subjects do not have warehouses or stores, only accept online orders, disperse goods in many places, only deliver small quantities, making it difficult to determine the warehouse. Many subjects only sell goods through intermediary collaborators, post products on the website but in reality only receive orders and place them through other units to act as intermediaries to make a profit.

In the first 10 months of 2024, the Market Management force focused on monitoring and inspecting the e-commerce sector and detected many violations nationwide. Most subjects organized warehouses near border gates, set up livestream points to receive orders and deliver goods to many different locations across the country.

“ Illegal goods are mixed and transported in packages, using non-owner phone numbers for transactions, buying and selling, and sent to customers through delivery and express delivery services, making them difficult to detect.” - The leader of the General Department of Market Management informed and said that recently, the number of violations and handling cases in the e-commerce environment has been constantly increasing, with the nature of violations and complex developments.

Among the violating items, not only are they common consumer goods, but many items such as functional foods, cosmetics, medicines, and electronic cigarette products are counterfeited in large quantities and are also traded on e-commerce platforms, directly threatening the health of consumers.

Statistics from the Vietnam E-commerce Association also show that on average, there are 2.5 million livestream sales sessions per month, with more than 50,000 sellers participating. However, violations related to smuggled goods, counterfeit goods, and tax evasion are becoming increasingly complicated.

In 8 months of 2024, The Department of E-commerce and Digital Economy, Ministry of Industry and Trade has transferred information on more than 500 websites and applications with signs of violations to the police. The number of violations in e-commerce handled increased 2.4 times, the amount of fines increased nearly 3 times compared to the same period in 2023.

Regarding the platforms e-commerce Regarding cross-border businesses operating in Vietnam but not complying with legal regulations (such as Temu, Shein, 1688), the General Department of Market Management said that the Ministry of Industry and Trade has directed units to coordinate with relevant functional forces to strengthen supervision, detection, and handling of warehouses and goods gathering points (if any) and through practical inspection, review, and recommendations to competent authorities to continue to improve policies and laws to improve operational efficiency and protect consumer rights.

Fighting counterfeit goods in e-commerce from the "root"

Proposing solutions to help prevent and control violations in e-commerce, the leader of the General Department of Market Management said that there should be solutions for tighter management. It is time to regulate and treat the online environment like the offline environment, and to identify buyers and sellers.

To realize the goal of combating counterfeit goods in the e-commerce environment, recently, the General Department of Market Management and the Department of Security Industry, Ministry of Public Security signed a memorandum of understanding to effectively implement the Project on combating counterfeit goods and protecting consumers in e-commerce until 2025, which was approved by the Prime Minister.

According to the cooperation content, the Department of Security Industry, Ministry of Public Security will assign a specialized unit to implement the application of electronic stamps to authenticate and look up and trace stamp codes in circulation management to combat counterfeit goods and protect consumers.

The two units will work together to build a database system using information technology solutions to digitally transform state management work in the field of e-commerce in particular and goods circulation management in general. The General Department of Market Management will work with the Department of Industry and Security to build a database to improve management efficiency and the capacity to handle disputes, complaints, and protect consumers in e-commerce.

Director General of the General Department of Market Management Tran Huu Linh said that in the past, units have deployed many solutions to prevent and combat counterfeit goods. However, in reality, there is no optimal solution or technical measure that is 100% effective in combating counterfeit goods. For example, in Korea, QR codes are still used to be pasted directly onto each agricultural product, helping consumers identify genuine products. Currently, technical measures to combat counterfeit goods are of great interest to many people. Therefore, the General Department of Market Management hopes that the two units will coordinate to propose solutions, from policies to technical tools and means, to effectively implement this work.

Major General Nguyen Thanh Trang - Director of the Department of Security Industry, Ministry of Public Security - also said that the police force has closely coordinated with the Market Management force in localities to detect and handle many violations in this field in both traditional markets and e-commerce.

“The cooperation between the two agencies in implementing anti-counterfeiting solutions in the online environment is a demonstration of the determination of the authorities in promptly detecting and preventing violations in e-commerce, protecting businesses and consumers.” - Major General Nguyen Thanh Trang assessed.