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Vietnam-made products with foreign trademarks flooding market
When shopping at trade centres and supermarts, consumers can see a lot of products with the introductions that they are made in Germany or the US, or they are made with US or European technologies. In fact, the products are imported from China by Vietnamese companies which then label the imports with famous trademarks and sell them on the domestic market.
Businessmen say this business mode is called Original Equipment Manufacturer, and has become more and more popular in Vietnam.
Trademarks in a jumble
Hien, a housewife in Phu Nhuan district in HCM City, purchased a liquidizer with ‘Blacker’ trademark from Nguyen Kim Trade Centre after she was told by the salesman at the centre that this was a US product.
“I thought that the salesman told the truth because I saw the design, colour and the words in English on the cover of the liquidizer box, though I also saw the word ‘China’ on the box,” Hien said.
At Big C supemart on Hoang Van Thu Road in Phu Nhuan district, a salesman told clients that ‘Blacker’ products were of German make with cooperation with China. Meanwhile, another salesman of the same supermart said that ‘Blacker’ products were products of China assembled in Vietnam. Two other staffs of Big C gave different explanations about the origin of electric cooker with ‘Misuko Electric’. One said that the cooker was made in Japan, while the other said China.
Buyers who purchase Misuko Electric can get warranty certificates, but these do not show if Misuko is a Japanese or Chinese trademark. The certificate only provides the address of the maintenance centre in Hanoi.
An expert on consumer electric products affirmed that there is no US ‘Blacker’ trademark, saying that he only knows Black & Decker.
When talking to a Tuoi tre newspaper reporter, a representative of Nguyen Kim Trade Centre said that the salesmen mistook Blacker for Black & Decker.
“Black & Decker is a US trademark, Black & Decker products are made in China. Meanwhile, Blacker is a Vietnamese trademark, and Blacker products are made in China,” he confirmed.
Tuoi tre newspaper finally found out that the Blacker trademark is owned by Le Son Company, a 100% Vietnamese-owned company. Leaders of the company said that a lot of products, from magnetic cookers, electric rice cookers, to pans and irons, with Blacker trademark are made in China, sometimes Thailand or Malaysia, under the orders of Le Son Company. Currently, some kinds of products with Blacker trademarks are being assembled in Vietnam.
Blacker is not the only OEM case in Vietnam. A lot of other trademarks like Gali and Hitoshi consumer electric products, Datkeys sanitary ware, Bavapen mobile phones and some ready-made apparel products are all made in China.
The trap for consumers
The common characteristic of the products is that they all have ‘western designs’ with English words on the packages. Salesmen all say that they are the products of the US, Germany, Italy and France and sell them at exorbitantly high prices, though they do not have any proof to show the origins of the products.
Meanwhile, the owners of the trademarks have denied the accusation that they deliberately cheat consumers.
“Consumers have the right to decide whether to purchase the products. We clearly point out on the packages that the products are made in China. It is not our fault that consumers see the packages of the products and think that they are the products of the US or Europe,” Nguyen Viet Hoai Thi, Deputy Director of Le Son Trade and Service Company, the owner of Blacker trademark, said.
Similarly, Nguyen Thuong Dat, Director of Dat Quang Company, the owner of Datkeys trademark, said: “The products are made in China, but we keep strict control over the products’ quality to make sure that they meet international standards.”
Meanwhile, Pham Chi Lan, a senior economist, said that when launching products onto the market, the suppliers must clarify where the products are made. It would be considered consumer deception if the suppliers declared wrong production origins.
Lan said that big foreign groups always clearly state where they outsource products.
Tran Quoc Khanh, Director of the Multilateral Trade Policies Department under the Ministry of Industry and Trade, said that imports must clearly declare the origins of the imports and take responsibility for the imports’ quality. If the products bear Vietnamese trademarks and they are made in China, the suppliers must show on the packages that they are made in China. If they import products from China and sell the products under trademarks that make consumers believe that these are European products this is considered deception.
VNN
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