Vietnam asks Temu, Shein to register with government or risk getting blocked – report
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Robert Way
Vietnam said online retailers Shein and Temu are required to register with the government before the end of November or it would block their internet domains and apps from running in the South Asian nation, Reuters reported.
The government in Vietnam and domestic businesses have shown concern over the impact of Chinese online platforms on local markets due to high discounts. The trade ministry also said it is concerned about the potential for sale of counterfeit products, the report added.
Over the weekend, Nguyen Hoang Long, Vietnam’s deputy trade minister, told a government meeting that the ministry had worked with both Shein and Temu — which is owned by PDD (NASDAQ:PDD) — on the licensing matter, according to the report.
“After the ministry’s notification, if these platforms do not comply, the Ministry of Industry and Trade will coordinate with relevant agencies to implement technical measures such as blocking applications and domains,” said Long in a government statement, the report noted.
Since last month, Temu began allowing users in Vietnam to shop, while Shein has been selling in Vietnam for at least two years, the report added.
Shein said it sells products directly to Vietnamese consumers and is “committed to complying with Vietnam’s laws and regulations” and that it was working closely with local authorities on this matter, as per the report.
Vietnam allows imported goods of up to 1M dong (about $40)to be exempt from a value-added tax. The finance ministry said most items benefiting from the tax exemption were imported through e-commerce platforms and it was thinking of ending the tax break, the report noted.
Vietnam also has other e-commerce platforms, such as Shopee, owned by Singapore’s Sea (NYSE:SE), Alibaba’s (NYSE:BABA) Lazada and local companies Tiki and Sendo, operating in the country.
Last month, Indonesia asked Apple (AAPL) andAlphabet’s (GOOGL) (GOOG) Google to block Temu from their app stores to protect small merchants from competing with very cheap items, the report added.