Companies told to ban fake goods
Local businesses have contributed to the fight against counterfeit goods, Association for Anti-counterfeiting and Trademark Protection chairman Le The Bao told Cong Thuong (Industry and Trade) newspaper.
What is your assessment of losses caused by counterfeit goods on socio-economic development?
Counterfeit products and products infringing on intellectual property rights are varied, ranging from low value products to high value ones. If imitation and counterfeit goods are increasingly common in Viet Nam and other countries it is due to huge profits gained from the production of these products. For this reason, these products impact upon businesses producing and selling the original versions, which can suffer heavy losses. Counterfeit products have negatively impacted on brand names and may cause a loss of faith among consumers and can stall enterprises' creativity. Imitation goods also have a negative impact on healthy business competition and the attraction of investment for socio-economic development. The State will also lose revenue due to tax evasion.
Why have Government measures for anti-counterfeit products not yet achieved expectant effects?
The Government has paid close attention and has taken on a wide range of advice to combat counterfeit products, which has helped enforcement, but these measures have not yet achieved the expected results.
In my opinion, there are three reasons for this. Firstly, enterprises are not interested in legal documents relevant to anti-counterfeit products, and instead pay attention only to how much of profit they can earn from their products and it's only State management agencies which take part in the anti-counterfeit movement. Secondly, consumers, especially young people, are more interested in fashionable and cheap products rather than paying attention to counterfeit and imitation products. Once demand for counterfeit goods exits, it will definitely stimulate supply. Thirdly, market watch units cope with many difficulties in detecting counterfeit and imitation goods, while spending on such activities remains limited.
What State policy is needed to minimise counterfeit and imitation goods?
Addressing these problems is not a simple task. The fight against counterfeit and imitation goods remains difficult and beset by obstacles. I think it is necessary to examine whether leaders at different levels have paid proper attention to the fight and if State law is strong enough to deter violations. It is essential to provide funds for market watch units to investigate cases and destroy counterfeit and imitation goods while commending individuals for efforts supporting anti-counterfeit practices.
Another important factor in the anti-counterfeiting movement is the co-operation of enterprises with market watch units and consumers in detecting counterfeit goods. At the same time, we must increase production quality and reduce production costs.
The Government has recently instructed the VATAP to work with enterprises and market watch units to detect counterfeit goods and I think this move is necessary and these offices must co-ordinate closely to bring about change. — VNS