Basic HTML Version
timeout
16
O
n November 27, 2012, four
trucks carrying thousands of
fashion items, such as pants,
shirts, dresses and handbags
from luxury brands such as Gucci and
Dolce & Gabbana were seized when
loading the goods packages at the Sher-
aton Hotel’s Gucci & Milano store in Ho
Chi Minh City. Each item’s value was
listed as just a couple of dollars on the
customs declaration and the total tax
imposed for this shipment was just VND
27 million.
The owner, who has long been
known as a famous distributor of luxury
brands amongst local fashionitas, had
his business closed for a few days in
early December for further inspection.
Earlier, in September, another
import company, Ta Giang Linh, was
found to have committed commercial
fraud in a similar case. Most recently
on December 20, Ton Nguyen company
followed suit, listing prices from $1.70
to $5.50 for Gucci, Galliano and Valen-
tino goods. The brand names were not
included in the custom declaration and
the origin is listed as China.
These cases have tarnished the lux-
ury market and raised questions about
the honesty and transparency of luxury
goods distributors in Vietnam.
The murky world of
luxury goods
InVietnam, luxury brands and
shopsarehittingtheheadlines
for all the wrong reasons. The
old adage ‘you get what you
pay for’can’tbeappliedto lux-
urygoodshere,withaplethora
of fakes on the shelves.What’s
more,theindustry’sreputation
isbeingharmed further by tax
evasion. These are dark times
forthehighendmarket,writes
Hong Nhung