Officials handled more than 1.9 million cases of counterfeit items during 2001-2010, intercepting over 5,700 billion VND (274,3 million USD) worth of goods.

The figures were released at a meeting held on Aug. 29 by the Ministry of Industry and Trade to review 10 years of the Government's crackdown on the production and smuggling of fake and illegally traded goods.

Nguyen Hung Dung, Head of the Ministry's Market Management department, said since the issuance of the government's directive 10 years ago, agencies has made significant efforts to seize counterfeit goods.

However, Dung said, authorities lacked the funds to destroy the counterfeit goods and the legal framework to prosecute the criminals was inadequate.

The national committee against fake and smuggled goods requested all provincial committees to speed up efforts in monitoring illegal trading activities, particularly with products such as iron and steel, cattle, petrol, cigarettes and livestock.

Minister of Industry and Trade Vu Huy Hoang said activities against the production and smuggling of counterfeit goods would be intensified./.