Abbott Laboratories appears to monopolise distribution in Vietnam

January 07, 2015 | 15:12

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US-based Abbott Laboratories and its exclusive Vietnamese distributor 3A Nutrition Vietnam Co., Ltd. appear to be monopolising the distribution of the vanilla-flavored Ensure original shake in Vietnam, according to the National Steering Committee on the Prevention and Control of Smuggling, Trade Fraud and Fake Commodities (Steering Committee 389).

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At the beginning of 2013, Abbott Laboratories started printing on the label of the vanilla-flavored Ensure original shake this line, “Not to be sold in Vietnam or Mexico.” After Vietnamese authorities stopped allowing this product in Vietnam, the import of a similar product by Abbott’s exclusive Vietnamese distributor 3A Nutrition Vietnam Co., Ltd. rose 63 per cent.

Meanwhile, the vanilla-flavored Ensure original shake continued to be imported into Vietnam. In 2013 the import value was VND700 billion ($33 million), of which 3A Nutrition imported VND300 billion ($14 million) worth of the product. The price of the original shake is almost twice as much as that of the similar product mentioned above.

The steering committee then asked Abbott to clarify about the quality of the vanilla-flavored Ensure original shake with the line “Not to be sold in Vietnam or Mexico” and asked that, if this product is safe for consumption of Vietnamese, Abbott use other ways and cooperate with responsible agencies to prevent its smuggling instead of using this discriminative line.

The steering committee also asked the Ministry of Health to allow other firms to import the original shake in order to prevent monopoly to protect the right of consumers.

By By Hoang Minh

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