In response to rising public outrage over counterfeit goods, particularly milk, medicine, and health foods, the Ministry of Industry and Trade urgently dispatched a request on April 18 to provincial and municipal people's committees and local functional units to intensify market supervision, inspection, and control.
In the dispatch, Minister Nguyen Hong Dien emphasized that the authorities have uncovered numerous significant cases concerning the production, advertising, and dissemination of counterfeit milk, medicine, and health protection foods in various localities. This illicit activity has been ongoing for several years, directly impacting the health and well-being of the population.
To enhance accountability in managing and addressing this situation, the Minister of Industry and Trade has called upon people's committees of provinces and cities to closely observe market trends and promptly inform the Ministry of Industry and Trade about any fluctuations related to essential goods, particularly those that directly impact public health.
The Minister has requested localities to direct competent authorities to take the following actions including conducting urgent inspections to ensure that drug and health food businesses comply with the law, initiating the recall of all counterfeit drugs and health food, enforcing strict measures against organizations and individuals found to be in violation of the law.
The Minister of Industry and Trade has directed responsible agencies to inspect and severely penalize misleading advertising, especially when it impacts public health. Authorities in provinces and cities are instructed to conduct post-market surveillance on self-declared products, declaration registrations, production, import, advertising, and sample testing of items listed in Appendix II of Decree 15/2018/ND-CP. This post-market surveillance should prioritize health protection foods, medical nutritional foods, special dietary products, food supplements, and nutritional formulas for young children.
The Minister requested the Agency for Domestic Market Surveillance and Development to close coordinate with local forces while directing market management forces to strengthen inspection and strictly handle acts of production and trade of fake food, fake milk and fake medicine.
