Fake milk powder case: Distributor makes unexpected move, Ministry of Industry and Trade speaks up

The case of manufacturing and trading fake milk powder that has stirred up public opinion in recent hours has a new development. The distributor of milk products belonging to this chain suddenly did this.

The Ministry of Public Security's Investigation Police Agency has just prosecuted and temporarily detained 8 suspects to investigate the crimes of "manufacturing and trading in counterfeit food products" and "violating accounting regulations causing serious consequences". The two ringleaders are Hoang Manh Ha (Director of Rance Pharma International Pharmaceutical Joint Stock Company, abbreviated as Rance Pharma Company) and Vu Manh Cuong (Director of Hacofood Group Nutrition Pharmaceutical Joint Stock Company, abbreviated as Hacofood Company).

According to the accusatio.n, in the 4 years from 2021 to present, the group of defendants, through many legal entities, produced and consumed various types of fake milk powder on the market, illegally profiting nearly 500 billion VND. After the fake milk powder production, trading and consumption ring was recently dismantled by the Ministry of Public Security, consumers were confused. Faced with this information, many milk powder dealers quickly stopped selling, waiting for a solution.

Sharing with Xay Dung newspaper, Mr. Huu Tu, owner of the "Anhtuvuabimsua" chain of stores, hastily took down all products labeled as Rance Pharma International Pharmaceutical Joint Stock Company and Hacofood Group Nutrition Pharmaceutical Joint Stock Company. At the same time, he stopped selling the products to the market.

According to Mr. Tu, although this product is not much in the chain of stores, it still causes a lot of damage. The brand is new, the product is not popular yet so it does not sell well. The price of this milk is also similar to other brands on the market.

Regarding the incident, responding to Tuoi Tre Online, Mr. Tran Huu Linh - Director of the Department of Domestic Market Management and Development (Ministry of Industry and Trade) - affirmed that the Ministry of Industry and Trade does not license or manage products manufactured and traded by Rance Pharma International Pharmaceutical Joint Stock Company and Hacofood Group Nutrition Pharmaceutical Joint Stock Company.

Mr. Linh said that according to Decree No. 15/2018 of the Government detailing the implementation of a number of articles of the Law on Food Safety, the state management authority over dairy products is clearly defined according to each product group and specialized agency.

"The Ministry of Industry and Trade is responsible for managing the group of regular processed milk products, not including products supplemented with micronutrients, functional foods, or pharmaceuticals with special nutritional ingredients. These products are currently managed by the Ministry of Health," said Mr. Linh.

In addition, Mr. Linh also affirmed that the Ministry of Industry and Trade does not have the authority to issue business registration certificates to enterprises. The establishment and registration of business operations are carried out by the Department of Planning and Investment of provinces and centrally-run cities in accordance with the provisions of the Enterprise Law.

Regarding why this line has been operating for the past 4 years without being detected, inspected and controlled in the production and supply of dairy products of these businesses to the market to promptly prevent counterfeit and poor quality goods, Mr. Linh said that the market management force always "monitors, supervises and coordinates with relevant agencies and departments in the inspection and control of the market of goods in general, including dairy products and functional foods in particular".

However, for Hacofood Group Nutrition Pharmaceutical Joint Stock Company and Rance Pharma International Pharmaceutical Joint Stock Company, the leader of the Department of Domestic Market Management and Development said that these are companies that are not under the specialized management authority of the Ministry of Industry and Trade.

According to current law, the Ministry of Industry and Trade is not allowed to conduct specialized inspections, periodic checks or post-inspections on the production and supply of milk of the two companies in the case. The Ministry of Industry and Trade can only conduct inspections on these companies when it detects signs of violations within the scope of its assigned functions and tasks.

Ms. Quang Linh and Tien Nguyen revealed their special roles, is there something shady? Keng16:33:38 14/04/2025Recently, the Investigation Police Agency - Ministry of Public Security (C01) has decided to prosecute the criminal case of Manufacturing fake food products and Deceiving customers, prosecute the accuse.d, and apply temporary detention measures against Quang Linh and Hang Du Muc.