New penalty rules for counterfeit chemical products in Vietnam 
Vietnam enacted the “Decree No. 98/2020/ND-CP on the penalties for administrative violations in trading and production of counterfeit and banned goods, and protection of consumer rights” on August 20, 2020. Chemicals such as cosmetics, detergents, insecticides, and fungicides are also covered. The original text of this decree can be downloaded from the following URL:
http://vanban.chinhphu.vn/portal/page/portal/chinhphu/hethongvanban?class_id=1&mode=detail&document_id=200841
Administrative fines for importing, manufacturing, and trading counterfeit chemicals, or forging its product labels are doubled compared to general merchandise, and depending on the target and quantity, a fine of up to VND 200 million (JPY 900,000) may be imposed for companies. In addition, penalties are stipulated in detail for distribution and trading of counterfeit products containing explosive substances, flammable liquids/gases, restricted chemicals in manufacturing/trading, or conditional chemicals.
The main violations and their fines are shown in the table below:
| Type of violations | Target products | Fines |
| Importing counterfeit products | Cosmetics, medical devices, detergents, chemicals, insecticides and fungicides for household and medical use, cement, iron and steel used in construction, protective helmets | VND 2 million to 140 million |
| Manufacturing counterfeit products | VND 10 million to 200 million | |
| Trading products that are disguisedly labeled or packaged | VND 2 million to 100 million | |
| Manufacturing products that are disguisedly labeled or packaged | VND 4 million to 100 million | |
| Importing counterfeit stamps, labels and packaging | Foods, food additives, food processing aids, food preservatives, drugs, medical ingredients, cosmetics, detergents, chemicals, insecticides and fungicides for household and medical use, animal and aquaculture feeds, livestock waste treatment products, fertilizers, veterinary drugs, pesticides, plant varieties, animal breeds, cement, iron and steel used in construction | VND 600,000 to 60 million |
| Manufacturing counterfeit stamps, labels and packaging | VND 1 million to 100 million | |
| Importing smuggled goods | Foods, food additives, food processing aids, food preservatives, drugs, medical ingredients, chemicals, insecticides and fungicides for household and medical use, aqua environmental remediation products, livestock waste treatment products, veterinary drugs, fertilizers, cement, animal feeds, pesticides, growth stimulants, plant varieties, animal breeds | VND 1 million to 100 million |
| Expired goods, goods of unknown origin and other violations | Detergents, chemicals, insecticides and fungicides for household and medical use, aqua environmental remediation products, livestock waste treatment products, veterinary drugs, fertilizers, cement, animal feeds, pesticides, growth stimulants, plant varieties, animal breeds, aquaculture feeds | VND 1 million to 100 million |
| Violations regarding supermarket and shopping mall management | Goods containing radioactive substances that are prohibited from being sold in supermarkets and shopping malls, devices generating ionizing radiation in excess of permissible limits, explosives, flammable, explosive liquids or gases, veterinary drugs, pesticides, goods included in the list of restricted goods or goods containing toxic substances included in the list of restricted goods. | VND 20 million to 30 million |
In addition to the fines above, there are various additional penalties such as prohibition of manufacturing and trading of the relevant products or withdrawal of license.
This decree came into effect on October 15, 2020, and “Decree No. 185/2013/ND-CP on the penalties for administrative violations in trading and production of counterfeit and banned goods, and protection of consumer rights” and Decree No. 124/2015/ND-CP that amended and supplemented 185/2013/ND-CP became invalid.
