Over 1,000 products made by premier Vietnamese silk brand Khaisilk have been taken by authorities following an inspection of the firm’s outlet in Ho Chi Minh City.
A unit from the municipal market surveillance agency, in coordination with local authorities, carried out an inspection of the Khaisilk store at 101 Dong Khoi Street in District 1 on Tuesday.
The inspection lasted three hours under the supervision of the store’s representatives.
At around 7:00 pm the same day, over 1,000 products including scarves, ties, shirts, and other silk merchandise were taken away by the inspection team.
A representative of the Ho Chi Minh City market watchdog said that the goods were kept so that officers could continue verifying potential violations committed by the company.
Records and documents related to the products will be reviewed, and their origin will also be checked, he added.
Earlier the same day, Deputy Chairman of the municipal People’s Committee Tran Vinh Tuyen ordered the Department of Industry and Trade and the city’s market surveillance agency to examine the operations of Khaisilk in the southern hub.
Local businesses displaying evidence of possible trade fraud will also come under scrutiny, Tuyen said.
‘Made in China’ vs. ‘Made in Vietnam’
Founded in the late 1990s, Khaisilk scarves are considered a premium product, popular amongst local luxury consumers and international tourists.
The brand was rocked by a scandal last week after one of the company’s scarves was found bearing both a ‘Made in China’ label and a ‘Made in Vietnam’ one.
Facebook user Dang Nhu Quynh reported that the scarf was part of a 60-item order his brother had placed with a Khaisilk store in Hanoi costing VND644,000 (US$28) per piece.
He added that some of the remaining 59 ‘Made-in-Vietnam’ scarves displayed signs that a ‘Made in China’ tag had been removed.
The brand owner, Hoang Khai, later confessed that 50 percent of his silk scarves were sourced from China and sold under the guise of being Vietnamese.
Khaisilk outlets in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City have been shut down since last weekend.
Following a closed-door meeting on Monday, the Ministry of Industry and Trade said that all information related to the case would be sent to police for further investigation.
Source: Tuoi Tre News