WHAT HAPPENED
In Hanoi, authorities dismantled an underground production facility that, according to preliminary data, produced about 7,000 bottles of counterfeit shower gel under the Lifebuoy brand and laundry detergent under the OMO brand. The finished products, as reported by Vietnam.vn, were sold through Shopee. The case materials have been handed over to the police.
This is not an isolated incident but part of a systematic campaign. According to the Ministry of Industry and Trade of Vietnam (MOIT), in July 2026, during coordinated raids with marketplaces, more than 9,000 products with signs of violations were removed from listings. And in May 2026, the Prime Minister issued a separate directive to strengthen the fight against counterfeiting and intellectual property rights violations: the target is to increase the number of cases reviewed by at least 20% compared to May 2025.
The scale of enforcement is evident from the numbers. In the first nine months of 2026, market surveillance authorities conducted 19,646 inspections and collected almost 250 billion VND (about $9.6 million), reports Vietnam News. Separately, SGGP noted that during the peak campaign in June 2026, more than 2,000 stores and listings on e-commerce platforms were blocked.
WHAT IT MEANS
For a Russian entrepreneur who purchases household chemicals, cosmetics, or fast-moving consumer goods in Vietnam and sells them on Ozon, Wildberries, or through their own channels, this raid is a signal that the rules of the game are changing. Previously, counterfeiting in Vietnam was perceived as a "local problem," but now it is a supply chain problem: if your supplier or its subcontractor produces fakes, your shipment, your account, and your reputation are at risk.
The categories at highest risk are those where fakes are easily disguised as originals and where brand owners actively protect their rights. These include detergents, shower gels, shampoos, cosmetics, perfumes, and household chemicals. It is telling that counterfeit OMO already appeared in raids in 2024: Bao Nghe An reported the dismantling of a workshop producing fake laundry detergent. So the problem is not one-off but recurring—and therefore the risks for buyers are systemic.
The second layer is pressure on the marketplaces themselves. In May 2026, Vietnam's Competition Commission fined Shopee for unfair competition and ordered it to publicly refute misleading information about an advertising campaign. This is an important precedent: platforms are now motivated to clean up their listings more actively to avoid sanctions. For sellers, this means more frequent document requests, sudden listing blocks, and requirements to confirm the origin of goods.
The third layer is the discrepancy in assessments. International reports, in particular the USTR Special 301 Report, noted a decline in administrative activity in 2025 after the reorganization of supervisory bodies, while MOIT in 2026 reports an increase in the number of campaigns and cases. For practitioners, this means one thing: statistics are contradictory, but operational pressure on sellers is growing—and you cannot rely on "it'll blow over."
VIETSMART EXPERT COMMENTARY
In our operations in Ho Chi Minh City, we see this dynamic every month. Partners come with the same question: "We buy from a verified factory, why is our listing blocked?" The answer is almost always the same—the factory is verified, but the subcontractor that packages the shipment is not. Or the brand owner did not authorize parallel imports, and formally the goods are considered counterfeit even if they are genuine.
The most common mistake is saving on supply chain verification. An entrepreneur requests a certificate from the supplier, receives a PDF, files it away, and relaxes. But the certificate may be expired, issued to a different legal entity, or for a different product category. We always verify the document number in the regulator's database and cross-check the company name with what is stated in the contract. This takes two days but removes 80% of the risks.
CONCLUSIONS AND WHAT TO DO
The raid in Hanoi is not news "for general awareness" but a practical signal. Here is what we recommend doing in the coming weeks.
- Request the full set of documents for the shipment from the supplier: certificate of conformity (CFS), document of origin, brand authorization for sale. Verify each document number in Vietnam's regulator database, not just the presence of a PDF.
- Cross-check the legal entity in the contract with the legal entity in the certificate. If the supplier is a trader and the certificate is issued to a factory, demand the contract between them. Otherwise, during an inspection, you will be the one held responsible.
- Implement incoming inspection of shipments. For household chemicals and cosmetics—at minimum, a visual check of packaging, labeling, and expiration dates. For expensive shipments—laboratory analysis for compliance with the declared composition.
- Stipulate liability for counterfeiting in the contract. A clause on penalties and refunds for supplying goods with signs of counterfeiting is not distrust but standard practice in 2026.
- Keep a backup supplier. If your main counterparty is raided, you won't be left without inventory. This is especially important for categories where brand owners actively litigate.
The Southeast Asian market continues to grow, and Vietnam remains one of the key sourcing destinations for Russian e-commerce. But the rules of the game are changing: the winner is not the one who purchases faster, but the one who can prove the legality of each shipment. The raid on 7,000 bottles of fakes is a reminder that supplier verification is cheaper than dealing with a marketplace dispute.
Source: Vietnam.vn dated October 22, 2026