Fashion chain closes Hanoi outlets over label fraud suspicions

As of Tuesday morning all SEVEN.AM outlets in Hanoi were closed, despite no official announcement being made on the issue.

Dang Quoc Anh, CEO of Hanoi-based MHA Jsc, which owns the SEVEN.AM brand, told VnEpxress that the stores were closed because the company is waiting for investigation results from Hanoi’s Department of Market Surveillance.

On Monday, the department seized over 9,000 SEVEN.AM products from five outlets for which the company was not able to provide transaction records showing their origins.

The investigation was launched after media reports alleged SEVEN.AM was importing Chinese goods and replacing "Made in China" labels with "Made in Vietnam" on its clothes, underwears and scarves.

A representative of the surveillance department said that it was verifying the origins of these products.

A product imported from another country and sold in Vietnam should carry the label of the country of origin, and replacing it with Vietnamese ones was illegal, he said.

SEVEN.AM was launched in 2009 and has 24 outlets in 18 localities.

Origin fraud allegations, especially with Chinese products, have been leveled at major Vietnamese companies before.

In 2017, customers of major silk brand Khaisilk claimed that the company had replaced Chinese labels with Vietnamese ones. The company ceased operations after authorities said it was "deceiving Vietnamese consumers."

Electronics maker Asanzo is currently being investigated for allegedly replacing Chinese labels with Vietnamese ones on its TV products.