Director of Nghe An Department of Industry and Trade proposed many solutions to combat counterfeit and poor quality goods

The question-and-answer session at the 31st Session of the 18th Provincial People's Council, term 2021 - 2026, on state management of the production and trading of counterfeit, fake, poor quality goods and dirty food in the province, which took place on the morning of July 10, had 18 delegates of the Provincial People's Council raising questions and debating dozens of issues with the leaders of 4 relevant provincial departments and branches.

Standing members of the Provincial People's Council chair the meeting. Photo: Thanh Cuong

18 Provincial People's Council delegates raised questions

Director of the Department of Industry and Trade Pham Van Hoa directly answered questions, along with heads of the Departments of Agriculture and Environment, Health, and Science and Technology directly answering questions and debates in the management field.

Mr. Pham Van Hoa - Director of the Department of Industry and Trade answered questions from the Provincial People's Council delegates. Photo: Thanh Cuong

Provincial People's Council delegate Nguyen Cong Van asked about the State management responsibilities of organizations and individuals, especially the Department of Industry and Trade, and what important solutions need to be focused on to combat the production and trading of counterfeit goods, poor quality goods, dirty food, food safety violations, especially the anxiety of people when "they are afraid of eating anything, worried about buying anything".

Director of the Department of Industry and Trade Pham Van Hoa said: The responsibility of the Industry and Trade sector is the Standing Agency of the Steering Committee 138 and controls the goods traded in the market in the field of industry and trade. Mr. Hoa affirmed: Commercial fraud, counterfeit goods, and imitation goods are becoming a "problem", especially through the campaign to fight against counterfeit goods, imitation goods, and poor quality goods under the direction of the Government , it must be said that the whole country is "uproared", with thousands of violations being handled.

Provincial People's Council delegate Nguyen Cong Van raised questions about the State management responsibilities of organizations and individuals, especially the Department of Industry and Trade. Photo: Mai Hoa

Presenting solutions for the coming time, Director Pham Van Hoa shared: The province is urgently completing the Provincial Steering Committee 389 and after the 31st session of the Provincial People's Council, the Provincial Steering Committee will direct the establishment of 130 Steering Committees at the commune level in the period from July 20 to 25, 2025. At the same time, after July 25, the Provincial Steering Committee will organize working groups to the grassroots level to both inspect the establishment of the Steering Committee and direct tasks for the communes.

For a long time, propaganda work has not been deep, broad and effective. All levels and sectors have propaganda reports and have implemented propaganda tasks, but they are isolated, without coordination, creating effectiveness and "awakening" of the whole society; especially, the strength of the whole people has not been promoted, the people are on the sidelines of this war.

Provincial People's Council delegate Lu Thi Khuyen raised questions about solutions to combat counterfeit and poor quality goods in mountainous and rural areas. Photo: Thanh Cuong

Along with that is improving the effectiveness of the fight - this is the most difficult problem. For a long time, especially in the recent campaign, the functional forces have made great efforts to fight and achieved high results. "Arresting many, punishing many only reflects the results of the fight and the efforts of the functional agencies"; but evaluating the effectiveness of state management and the fight must be based on two criteria, including the "cleanliness" of the market and the trust of the market, or in other words, the trust of consumers, which we have not been able to do.

The solution to the struggle in the context of limited forces and resources is to change the method of struggle to focus on key points and identify breakthroughs. Wherever the struggle is, it must be fierce and decisive, "uprooting the roots"; immediately focusing on two items according to the Government's direction: fake drugs and fake functional foods.

At the same time, promoting the production and trading of quality goods to push back counterfeit and poor quality goods, typically the OCOP product production movement has a positive spread; fighting counterfeit and poor quality goods is creating good competition for genuine goods.

Que Thi Tram Ngoc, a delegate of the People's Council of Que province, raised a question about the suggestion of the Ministry of Industry and Trade and the Ministry of Public Security on how people can recognize fake and poor quality goods. Photo: Thanh Cuong

Responding to questions from provincial People's Council delegates Tran Thi Khanh Linh and Lu Thi Khuyen about solutions to "radically" resolve the situation of counterfeit goods circulating in the market, especially in rural and mountainous areas and to fight against the situation of "real labels, fake goods", the Director of the Department of Industry and Trade said: The circulation of counterfeit goods does not distinguish between markets; wherever the force is weak, this product is present.

Currently, in rural and mountainous areas, the functional force is thin; local authorities are not really concerned; people's awareness of fake and counterfeit goods is limited; many people still use poor quality goods even though they know.

Therefore, the most important and sustainable solution is to impact the awareness and consciousness of consumers; enhance the responsibility of commune and block, hamlet, village and commune authorities, especially to inspect and supervise cases of individual free trade and business in the area.

Provincial People's Council delegate Nguyen Thi Anh Hoa raised questions about the role of establishments signing commitments not to produce or trade in counterfeit or poor quality goods. Photo: Thanh Cuong

Regarding the responsibility of the functional forces, in the context of a thin market management force, with some teams having only 3-4 people, but managing over 20 commune-level units; the industry will calculate and establish a mobile team to strengthen the force to support the fight in key areas.

Promote trade promotion activities, bring goods to mountainous areas to meet market demand; associated with investment in trade infrastructure, prioritize capital policies from the budget for mountainous areas, and encourage socialization in the plains.

Regarding the issue of “real labels, fake goods” and the difficulty in distinguishing fake and counterfeit goods; in addition to solutions to combat, it is recommended that organizations and individuals involved in production must use intellectual property measures, have stamps, barcodes, and clear origins to protect themselves. At the same time, raise awareness and vigilance of the people, become alert consumers; at the same time, it is necessary to recommend that competent authorities strictly handle violations of “real labels, but fake goods”.

Provincial People's Council delegate Phan Thi Minh Ly questioned the Director of the Department of Industry and Trade. Photo: Thanh Cuong

The Director of the Department of Industry and Trade also answered questions from the Provincial People's Council delegates: Nguyen Thi Anh Hoa, Que Thi Tram Ngoc, Luc Thi Lien, Phan Thi Minh Ly about the assessment of the level of market control; solutions to improve consumer knowledge and a toolkit to identify counterfeit and poor quality goods for people...

According to Mr. Pham Van Hoa: The market situation, especially the problem of trade fraud, counterfeit goods, and poor quality goods nationwide, including Nghe An, is very complicated and the level of control is not tight. If we only rely on the authorities, we cannot control it but only have limitations. The important foundation is to improve the level and strict control from the production stage to the supply chain and consumption.

Provincial People's Council delegate Luc Thi Lien raised questions about the reward system for those who discover and denounce violations in the production and trading of counterfeit and poor quality goods. Photo: Thanh Cuong

Signing a commitment is a mandatory requirement for organizations and individuals participating in production and business; this is an important and necessary content to promote and raise awareness and responsibility of organizations and individuals. In the coming time, the industry will require 100% of production and business establishments to sign a commitment to ensure product quality.

Regarding the solution to distinguish between genuine and fake goods; first of all, the authorities must regularly increase publicity and warn people about forms of fraud, counterfeit goods, and poor quality goods; at the same time, recommend that production and business units invest more in registering for intellectual property protection, limiting counterfeiting of labels; people need to pay attention to updating information, ways to distinguish between genuine and fake products updated on the electronic environment; apply artificial intelligence to distinguish between genuine and fake products.

Deploying 9 key task groups

Concluding the question-and-answer session on state management of the production and trading of counterfeit, fake, poor-quality goods and dirty food in the province; Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Council Nguyen Nhu Khoi emphasized: Through reviewing reports, conducting field surveys; working directly with a number of functional agencies and through today's question-and-answer session, it can be seen that the serious situation of the production and trading of counterfeit, fake, poor-quality goods and dirty food has been negatively affecting the health and interests of consumers, the production and business environment and socio-economic development in general.

Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Council Nguyen Nhu Khoi concluded the questioning on state management of the production and trading of counterfeit, fake, poor quality goods and dirty food in the province. Photo: Thanh Cuong

Affirming that the work of preventing and combating counterfeit goods, trade fraud and food safety is a very important and urgent task; although sectors and levels have made many efforts in propaganda, control and combat activities; this is currently a very complicated problem, with many difficulties, causing insecurity among the public.

Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Council Nguyen Nhu Khoi suggested that the Provincial People's Committee should strengthen the direction of all levels and sectors to effectively implement 9 groups of key tasks and solutions after the meeting. In particular, it is necessary to continue to direct sectors and localities to seriously and effectively implement the directions of the Central Government and the province with the spirit of "no forbidden areas, no exceptions".

Focus on reviewing the functions and tasks of relevant departments, branches, and commune-level authorities; thoroughly overcome the overlapping and unclear functions and tasks leading to lack of initiative and avoidance of responsibility; it is necessary to attach responsibility to the heads of agencies, units, fields, and areas in charge...

Directing in-depth propaganda activities, raising awareness, law compliance and protecting the rights of legitimate businesses and business households; skills to identify counterfeit and poor quality goods for consumers (such as applying QR code technology, identifying goods numbers to make the supply chain transparent, verifying product origin...; creating favorable conditions for people to promptly report violations of the law in the production and trading of counterfeit goods, dirty food...

Prioritize the allocation of human resources, funding, and means for functional agencies, especially the application of digital technology, the development of a shared data system for traceability, product quality testing, rapid food safety testing equipment, and storage of evidence. Review and complete the system of legal documents, especially those related to e-commerce.

In the immediate future, the Provincial People's Committee is requested to direct the Department of Industry and Trade to tighten the granting of conditional business licenses, inspect and handle smuggled goods, counterfeit goods, goods violating food safety, false advertising and manage e-commerce. The Department of Health, the Department of Agriculture and Environment shall strengthen the control of counterfeit drugs, dirty food, agricultural materials. The Police, Market Management, Customs, Border Guard, Tax and local authorities shall strengthen coordination in controlling the market, goods at border gates, markets, small businesses, etc.; at the same time, improve the capacity and public ethics of enforcement officers and strictly handle cases of abetting violations.

Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Council Nguyen Nhu Khoi said: Fighting against counterfeit goods and dirty food is not only the responsibility of state management agencies but also requires the support of the whole society. We hope that businesses and business households will always strictly comply with the provisions of the law, spread business ethics, strive to produce and trade many high-quality goods at reasonable prices; put the interests and health of consumers first.

Source: https://baonghean.vn/giam-doc-so-cong-thuong-nghe-an-neu-nhieu-giai-phap-chong-hang-gia-hang-kem-chat-luong-10302010.html