At the regular Government press conference for April, held on the afternoon of May 6, 2025, Brigadier General Hoang Anh Tuyen, Deputy Chief of Staff and Spokesperson of the Ministry of Public Security, provided some information related to the progress of the investigation into counterfeit milk, medicine, and health supplements.
Specifically, in the first case involving the production, trading, and business of counterfeit milk and medicine, as of April 29, 2025, the Ministry of Public Security’s Investigation Police Agency had initiated prosecutions and detained 15 individuals for investigation of acts of producing and trading counterfeit food and medicine; violating accounting regulations causing serious consequences; fraud, appropriation of property; bribery and brokerage.
The second case involved the production and trading of counterfeit goods, medicines, and cures in Thanh Hoa province and many other provinces and cities nationwide. As of April 29, 2025, the Thanh Hoa Provincial Police Investigation Agency decided to initiate prosecutions and charge 14 individuals with the crime of producing and trading counterfeit medicines for prevention and treatment.
The third case involved the production of health-protecting foods and the use of fake test results to market the products manufactured by Herbitech Co., Ltd. On April 28, 2025, the Investigation Police Agency of the Ministry of Public Security decided to prosecute and issue arrest and search warrants for four defendants, including Pham Vu Khiêm, Director of Herbitech Co., Ltd., Vuong Thi Hoa, Le Thi Hong Van, and Bui Thi Thu Ha, who were accountants or in charge of accounting at Herbitech Co., Ltd. from 2021 to the present, on charges of violating accounting regulations causing serious consequences.
According to the investigation results, Pham Vu Khiêm directed Vuong Thi Hoa, Le Thi Hong Van, and Bui Thi Thu Ha to establish two accounting systems: one system for tax declaration, showing the quantity of goods produced and traded much lower than reality, and a second system for internal tracking with full information on the quantity of goods produced and traded and revenue earned, which was not declared for tax purposes.
As a result, over VND 121 billion was kept off the accounting books, initially determined to have caused a loss of over VND 10 billion in state budget revenue. In addition, during the investigation of this case, the investigation agency identified two health-protecting food products manufactured by Herbitech Co., Ltd. as counterfeit. At the same time, 115 samples of health-protecting food products manufactured by Herbitech Co., Ltd. were seized, showing signs of being counterfeit and awaiting appraisal results.
Sharing more information at the press conference, Deputy Minister of Health Tran Van Thuan stated that the recent incident of counterfeit milk is very serious, especially as the products are directly related to infants and patients, who require special nutritional guarantees.
“This is a very serious violation of business ethics by organizations and individuals who, for the sake of profit, have colluded to establish an organized network to profit for a long time. They have disregarded legal regulations and disregarded people’s health for their own gain. These acts are highly condemnable and should be severely punished to serve as a lesson for organizations and individuals involved in the production and trading of health supplements,” emphasized Deputy Minister Thuan.
Deputy Minister Thuan said that there are three types of dietary supplements, nutritional foods, and specialized foods. According to the Law on Food Safety 2010 and Decree No. 15/2018/ND-CP dated February 2, 2018, of the Government detailing the implementation of a number of articles of the Law on Food Safety, dietary supplement products are allowed to be self-declared, while nutritional foods, especially infant formula milk, must be registered for declaration.
“The policy of self-declaration aims to reduce administrative procedures and create favorable conditions for businesses. This is also a direction towards advanced management. However, a number of organizations and individuals have taken advantage of this mechanism to produce and trade low-quality products,” said Deputy Minister Thuan, describing the reality.
In 2024, the entire health sector inspected 354,820 establishments, detecting 22,073 establishments violating food safety regulations, accounting for 6.22% of the inspected establishments. 9,043 establishments were handled, accounting for 41% of the violating establishments, nearly doubling the number compared to the same period in 2023. Of these, 6,658 establishments were fined a total of VND 33 billion.
Mr. Tran Van Thuan, Deputy Minister of Health.
Immediately after discovering the incident, the Ministry of Health issued Official Dispatch No. 832/ATTP-PCTTR dated April 23, 2025, directing provinces and cities to review, inspect, and coordinate with competent authorities and localities to recall 12 nutritional food products in the form of powdered milk that are counterfeit and coordinate with the Investigation Police Agency of the Ministry of Public Security to handle them in accordance with regulations. At the same time, people are advised not to use 72 milk products that are still under investigation until the final conclusion of the Ministry of Public Security is available.
The health sector has promulgated full circulars and submitted to the Government decrees related to this issue. According to Decree 15/2018/ND-CP detailing the implementation of a number of articles of the Law on Food Safety, the management of functional foods involves the Ministry of Industry and Trade and even the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism. In particular, regarding management and supervision, the Ministry of Health has decentralized and authorized provinces, cities, and Departments of Health. The Ministry of Health only stipulates criteria and standards.
Deputy Minister of Health Tran Van Thuan said that some recent incidents were due to both objective and subjective reasons, including the business ethics and morality of the individuals involved, who took advantage of people’s health for their own gain. In addition, we are moving towards advanced management, so some products are self-declared by businesses and individuals. Taking advantage of this regulation, a number of organizations and individuals have self-declared and advertised many products that are not true.
Meanwhile, the resources for supervision are still scarce and do not meet the practical requirements. In the future, to overcome this problem, the Ministry of Health has been and will continue to coordinate with related ministries and sectors, especially the Ministry of Public Security, the Ministry of Industry and Trade, and the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, to implement solutions.
Deputy Minister Thuan also said that the Ministry of Health has submitted to the Government the amended Law on Pharmaceuticals and will continue to submit to the Government the amended Law on Food Safety, along with related decrees. In the process of building laws, decrees, and circulars, the Ministry of Health will coordinate with related ministries, branches, and businesses to manage these products in the strictest way to protect people’s health.
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