Deputy Head of Standing Office of the National Steering Committee 389 Dang Van Dung participated in the virtual seminar. Photo: Q.H

At the seminar titled: “Seeking solutions to fight contraband, counterfeit goods and goods infringing intellectual property rights to protect enterprises and consumers” held by Customs News, Deputy Head of Standing Office of the National Steering Committee 389 Dang Van Dung said due to the development of the Covid-19 pandemic, social distancing measures were implemented in localities; tourism activities, trade and services have been affected, competent forces have performed work on anti-smuggling, trade fraud and counterfeit goods. Competent authorities have strengthened the patrol and supervision at the border gate to prevent the pandemic spreading and illegal entry and exit, so that the smuggling, trade fraud and counterfeit goods tended to decrease compared with the previous year.

Although the collaboration between forces has basically changed, the performance in some cases has not been effective. The reason is that some officers still have supported and ignored smuggling, trade fraud and fake goods and divulged information while the coordination requires confidentiality, so smugglers can hide goods or even change methods and tricks, causing difficulties in arresting suspects.

“For some cases, when the Customs and Market Surveillance forces transferred profiles to the Police for further investigation and criminal prosecution, the handling has faced difficulties because the profiles were transferred late so that suspects dispersed related evidence and agreed to testimony,” Dung said.

In the near future, the Standing Office continues to review the coordination, if there still have shortcomings, the committee will propose ministries, government agencies and the Head of the Steering Committee 389 to supplement and amend regulations to enhance the efficiency of the work.