Smuggling “Undermines” Legal Luxuries

According to the General Department of Customs, the illegal import of counterfeit extravagances carrying famous brand names has been an issue for years. However, the indifference of owners has offered an opportunity for counterfeit goods to make inroads into the domestic market, thus harming the reputation of owners and causing significant economic and social damage.

 

Although police and customs authorities repeatedly contact brand owners in Vietnam, they show poor interest and cooperation in the issue. In a conversation with the reporter on December 26, 2012, Mr Tran Viet Hung, deputy manager of Intellectual Property Protection Control Team (Team 4) under the Anti-Smuggling Investigation Department (General Department of Customs) said the owner of one infringed franchise brand informed them that they could not contact the owner because of Christmas holiday.

 

As a result, the genuine determination to seize goods ended in deadlock because of no cooperation from the brand owner. If brand owners do not claim protection or not actively participate in long-term and systematic cooperation programmes, the authorities will face enormous difficulties in enforcing intellectual property rights (IPR) protection, defining and handling infringements. This is also an obstacle for border customs agencies reporting to the General Department of Customs. According to the Customs Department of Quang Ninh province, a large volume of fake Honda, Castrol and Yamaha lubricants is illegally imported from China to Vietnam, but owners of these brands are indifferent to the issue.

 

After a more than half a month after being seized and sealed by authorities for inspection, Milano - Gucci Store in Ho Chi Minh City suddenly opened on December 23, 2012. Products displayed for sale carry “Italian origin” tags and are imported by Gia Phat Co., Ltd instead of Nam De Company placed under investigation by authorities.

 

According to customs experts, only companies found violating the laws are prohibited from importing and importers will have State protection if they prove the clear origin of imports to the authorities. However, it is an extremely difficult task to prevent and handle fraud in intellectual property rights.

 

In developed countries, authorities may destroy goods right at borders or airports, if they find out that they are counterfeit, and shippers will bear responsibility. As such, consumers and shippers will have to have very high understanding of goods when they do exporting or importing. To do this, capacity and cooperation of authorities and brand owners must be very high.

 

Tran Viet Hung of Intellectual Property Protection Control Team said the settlement of violations and destruction of violated goods are not very high. It may take years to complete a case, from the seizure to destruction of seized goods. The law on settlement of complaints provides that the effectiveness of suing administrative decisions is one year. Therefore, if one year after shippers do not make any complaint, authorities will have the right to destroy the seized goods.

 

According to the law, owners of the shipments shall bear disposal costs. But, in fact, violators try to deny responsibility and disappear. Then, the authorities will have to spend on destruction of confiscated goods, leading to a prolonged time of disposal. Ineffective sanctions are not high enough to bring an end to illegitimate trade.