Firms cheat customers over product origins
Many firms have been found to have wrongly stated the country of origin of their imported products as Made-in-Vietnam given the popularity of Vietnamese goods among customers, according to the Ministry of Industry and Trade.
Asanzo's CEO, Pham Van Tam and workers check TV sets at their factory. Photo by Vietnamnet
Recently, electronics firm Asanzo has been accused of importing Chinese products resold as made-in-Vietnam products. Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc has asked the Ministry of Finance to work with the Ministry of Public Security and Ministry of Industry and Trade and related agencies to investigate the case and report back to the PM by July 30.
Although this was shocking news for Vietnamese consumers and Asanzo's customers in particular, the issue seems nothing new to local import firms as well as lawmakers who have yet been able to curb it.
At a meeting held in February this year, the Import-Export Department under the Ministry of Industry and Trade admitted that many products were stated Made-in-Vietnam even though they were produced or assembled in foreign countries.
"These import companies are taking advantage of the popularity of made-in-Vietnam products which have been known for high quality to cheat customers," the ministry said. "Some firms said they didn't know it was wrong to do that and had no idea about its impact on the economy."
A representative from the ministry told the Vietnamnet Newspaper that they have been working with the ministries of Science and Technology and Justice since 2018 to build a new decree or circular on this issue.
"We now have Decree 31 which only defines the origin of goods but there are no regulations on what can be labelled as Made-in Vietnam, the representative said, adding that the new decree with clearer rules will help deal with such violations as in the case of Asanzo.
Lawyer Nguyen Duc Manh from Bizlink Lawyer Company also said that Vietnamese law makers should soon issue a regulation on stating the origin of products.
"A company imported products from China and then replaced the Made-in-China with Made-in-Vietnam stickers on the products before selling to customers. They now may not violate regulations on products labelling but they violate the Law on Protection of Consumer Rights," Manh said. "They can be fined or prosecuted based on the seriousness of each case. We will be able to deal with this case more easily if we have a detailed regulation on product labelling."
On June 21, Tuoi Tre Newspaper reported that Asanzo Vietnam Electronic Company sells finished products imported from China and devices assembled from Chinese parts under the guise of Made in Vietnam goods.
Tuoi Tre has discovered that Asanzo Vietnam imported TV components, including LCD panels, from China into its factory in Vinh Loc Industrial Park in Ho Chi Minh City, where workers assembled them into finished products.
The final products would be labelled as Made in Vietnam TVs with Japanese technology.
At the meeting with Tuoi Tre, Asanzo's CEO, Pham Van Tam admitted that nearly 100 percent of the electronic parts of an Asanzo TV set are Chinese imports.
He underlined that the company does not directly import goods from China, but it sources them from many Vietnamese suppliers.
“We only take care of the assembling and testing processes before selling the finished products in the local market,” he said.
Many electronic stores in Vietnam have stopped selling Asanzo products after the scandal.
After Asanzo, Sunhouse Group has also been accused of sticking the Vietnamese High-Quality Goods title on its electric cookers which are introduced at Co.op Mart stores as made in China.
A worker at a Sunhouse's factory. Photo by Lao Dong
Answering Lao Dong Newspaper, chairwoman of the Vietnamese High Quality Product Business Association, Vu Kim Hanh, said that they only gave the Vietnamese High-Quality Goods title to Sunhouse's metalware products.
"We didn't give the title for Sunhouse's electric products so it was wrong for them to do that," Hanh said. "We'll check this and ask them to remove the titles that are stuck on wrong products."When being asked about the issue, Sunhouse's Marketing Director, Le Tung admitted that they stick the Vietnamese High-Quality Goods title on their electric cookers.
"Maybe we failed to understand the term ‘metalware’ here," he explained. "We thought that electronic cookers have some parts made from metal so can also be given the title."
The group also said that the Co.op Mart stores made mistake when stating the country of origin on its electric cookers.
"These electric cookers are not made in China but produced at our factories and have been given certificates by the Quality Assurance and Testing Centre 1," Sunhouse confirmed.
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