Big C The Garden, a branch of BigC Hanoi, has been fined VND35 million (USD1,669) after mislabelling local geen grapes with a Chinese flag.
Big C was vague in origins of green grape
The supermarket admitted it violated Government Decree 75 based on the Advertisement Law. The regulation bans using national flags to label products for advertising.
On April 15, Nguyen Thi Nhu Mai, Director of Hanoi’s market watchdog said that grapes sold at Big C The Garden mislabelled with a Chinese flag were actually sourced from Vietnam’s central province of Ninh Thuan.
“The conclusion was reached by the watchdog and the municipal police’s economic security office,” Mai said.
The incident happened on March 15 when consumers found green grapes at the market labelled with a Chinese flag along with brief introduction saying that they were Vietnamese fruits.
The watchdog conducted an inspection at the supermarket and found that Quang Minh, a company headquartered in Hanoi’s outlying district of Dan Phuong was the major green grape provider for the supermarket.
The company then proved that it has just provided green grapes for the supermarket since March 22.
The situation forced the supermarket to admit that they had made a mistake and that the grapes were bought from Pham Thi Hao, an owner of a kiosk at Long Bien wholesale market.
Hao agreed, saying that she bought the fruits from Cao Thi Vuong from the same market. Vuong bought such grapes from Nguyen Nhu Duc, a man in Phan Rang, Thap Cham City who was authorised by Ninh Thuan provincial government to trade in local grapes.
Nguyen Thi Anh Thinh, Deputy Director of the market’s management board said there were no Chinese green grapes available in the market during March. Chinese green grapes were only available during June and July.
All traders at the market said they bought green grapes sourced from Ninh Thuan over the past few months.
Nguyen Trung Thu, Chairman of Ninh Thuan Grapes Association, affirmed that they had sold green grapes to Hanoi markets in March.
“Among 1,000 hectares of grapes in Ninh Thuan, green grapes account for 2% of the total. Traders transport the grapes to Hanoi by themselves,” the association noted.
Apart from the fine, the supermarket was also found to have been lax in its management of point of origin documentation.
The chain was enforced to strictly discipline to its staff member who mislabelled the grapes.
