Vietnam vows to step up customs enforcement

Vietnam’s department for anti-smuggling and investigation has issued an open letter informing rights holders of plans to improve customs monitoring in the country.

According to a blog post by deputy chief executive of law firm Rouse, Nick Redfearn, “customs say that they are carrying out an intensive control plan to strengthen anti-smuggling, anti-counterfeiting and anti-infringing goods actions in relation to imported products”.

On the  IP Komodo blog, Redfearn, who practises in South East Asia, added that the customs authority will step up container inspections, focusing on fashion items, cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, toys and games, until the end of 2013.

In the letter, rights holders are urged to provide certain information, including details on previous suspected targets.

A report released by the Office of the US Trade Representative on May 1 said that Vietnam had taken steps to improve its regulatory framework and increase public awareness on the work of customs in the last two years, though enforcement actions had shown little progress in 2012.

“Enforcement agencies continue to have capacity constraints, due in part to a lack of resources and IPR expertise,” the office said.

Tran Manh Hung, partner at BMVN International LLC in Hanoi, said that smuggling in Vietnam remains a “serious” problem:

“Although the problem is still within the control of the Vietnamese customs authorities, there seems to be little sign that the rate of smuggling is decreasing.”

He said that consumer goods, apparel, cosmetics, personal electronics, and luxury goods are most at risk.

Working closely with customs authorities, recording trademarks and providing lists of authorised importers to custom inspectors at the borders have been effective strategies in the fight against counterfeiting and smuggling, he said.

However, most smuggled goods do not pass through customs at all, but are hand-carried across remote unguarded points along Vietnam’s border, he said.

“This makes the task of combating smuggling extremely difficult, given the customs authorities’ current lack of funding and manning to adequately guard all border areas.”

Tran Dzung Tien, a lawyer at Pham & Associates in Hanoi, said that Vietnam’s “porous” national borders, long coastlines and proximity to China, a “cradle of counterfeit production”, have made it tough for authorities to stop smuggling.

He cited limited financial resources, corruption among police and officials and a lack of skills and training on the part of the competent authorities as other factors.

“Trade between the nations in this region is booming, but so is smuggling,” he said.

“Traffickers and smugglers have taken advantages of seaports with increasingly sophisticated tricks, including changing itineraries to travel to and from China, Laos and Cambodia, to sell the smuggled goods.”

Developing the quality and competitiveness of domestic products, improving the efficiency and effectiveness of border control systems and ensuring the authorities have sufficient financial resources have been proven the best strategies for combating counterfeiting, he added.

On May 7 the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) coordinating committee of customs met to discuss harmonising customs procedures across ASEAN member economies.