Da Nang officials fine 2 stores that refuse to serve Vietnamese

No Vietnamese customers have been allowed to enter the for-Chinese-only H.A natural rubber showroom in Cam Le District, while the Sao Dai Han souvenir shop in Son Tra District has refused to receive local guests too, opening only to South Korean buyers.

The no-Vietnamese-entry policy of the two stores was reported by local media on Tuesday, and the city’s market watchdog immediately inspected them in the afternoon.

The showroom was found selling bedding accessories imported from China without quality certification and the required sub-labels in Vietnamese, which earned the owner a VND15.5 million (US$692) civil fine.

At the Sao Dai Han shop, market surveillance officers discovered many imported products on sale without the Vietnamese sub-labels.

The souvenir shop was fined VND10 million ($446) for these violations.

The H.A showroom was inaugurated on December 5 this year, and mostly sells Chinese products, according to the storekeeper.

The showroom signed deals with several tour organizers that will bring Chinese tourists there for shopping, he told Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper on Wednesday.

But he denied allegations that Vietnamese people are not allowed to shop there.

“Of course we also serve Vietnamese consumers,” he said. “But we have to prioritize the Chinese tourist groups so the local individual shoppers have to wait.”

While the shopkeeper asserted that there could be more than ten groups of Chinese tourists visiting the showroom on a daily basis, it does not sound logical for people to travel from China to Vietnam only to buy what they can purchase at home.

The companies that run the showroom and the souvenir shop said after being fined on Wednesday that they would scrap the no-Vietnamese-entry policy and open their doors to any customers, according to newswire Infonet.