LookAtVietnam – A five-year programme to fight smuggling, the sale of counterfeit goods and profiteering will be prepared and submitted to the Government by next March.

HCM City police destroy counterfeit goods, including CDs, DVDs and books. A plan on fighting smuggling and the sale of counterfeit goods will be submitted to the Government in March.

According to Hai, the programme will help stabilise the domestic market by reducing overlapping schemes and synchronising co-ordination among agencies.

Under the programme, a new position will be created specialising in monitoring and managing border-gate trade to avoid duplication of work.

Deputy Minister of Trade and Industry Nguyen Cam Tu said that despite encouraging results on the management of border-gate trade, the fight against smuggling remained difficult.

Tu said co-ordination among ministries, sectors and localities was handicapped by overlapping - and lack of information, equipment and funds.

He said Vietnamese people had failed to give priority to domestic goods. This meant that cheap and often counterfeit goods were illegally stealing business and creating difficulties for the economic development of the nation.

Reports from customs offices, police and the Market Watch Department reveal that smuggling and counterfeiting practices are becoming fewer, but involv much greater amounts of goods.

According to the Market Watch, in the first 10 months of this year, about 145,000 violations occurred and fines totalling nearly VND2 trillion (US$107million) were imposed, an increase of 15 per cent compared to the same period last year.

The new clampdown comes as countries in ASEAN begin to adjust their policies on border trade to protect domestic markets.

In Viet Nam, smugglers have benefited from tax exemptions on goods exchanged at borders and preferential policies in border economic zones.

The programme will also revise and modify current mechanisms relating to the management of the domestic market, “hot” items - including spirits, beer and tobacco - tax exemption policies, and checks on travellers passing through borders.

To strengthen the overall fight, Central Steering Anti-Smuggling Committee 127 urged provincial steering committees to check goods during the Tet (Lunar New Year) holiday period.

“Towards the end of each year, smuggling activities increase in border provinces in the north, central and southwest regions due to increased consumption. Goods, including fireworks, toys, beers, cooking, cigarettes and home appliances, are the items in demand,” said Trieu Quang Thin from Market Watch.

The department has told provinces to try and forecast changes in prices as well as the supplies of rice, petrol, coal, salt and sugar to reveal when and where smuggling or profiteering is likely to occur.

Localities were also asked to strengthen their present checks on smuggling, counterfeiting, and poor quality and unhygience goods to ensure the best were on sale for the holiday season.

Those carrying out inspections were advised to make sure businesses did not push up prices by stockpiling goods.

Thin said inspections at both internal and border areas by a combination of agencies had started at the beginning of this month.

Localities have been asked to report the results of the checks to Market Watch - every day.

VietNamNet/Viet Nam News