Authority announces over 99 per cent of Mumuso products originated from China

The Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT) has just announced the inspection conclusions for Mumuso Vietnam Export-Import Co., Ltd (Mumuso) in the period from 2016 to May 31, 2018. Accordingly, the company has appeared to breach provisions of laws.

Regarding origin of products, Mumuso is trading 2,273 types of products, 2,257 of which, accounting for 99.3 per cent, are imported from China. The rest is purchased from other domestic suppliers.

The Mumusokr brand was registered by Mumusokr Co., Ltd, which is located at No. 601, 47 SEJONGDAERO 23-GIL, JONGRO-GU, SEOUL (KR). The company uses the Mumusokr brand as authorized by Shanghai Mumuso Company. Shanghai Mumuso Company has the right to use and manage the Mumusokr brand worldwide as authorized by Mumusokr Co., Ltd. There is no Mumuso-branded store chain in Korea.

In addition, the information about products and advertisement shows Mumuso alleged relevance to South Korea. However, the company failed to prove the accuracy of the information provided, especially the origin and production technology of products.

For example, the sign that reads “Mumuso; Price only from VND22,000 ($0.96); Korea” is installed outside some of outlets while the ”Korea” word is printed on the shopping bags. Customers have been misled by this apparently deliberate tactic by Mumuso, believing that its stores and products are related to South Korean.

In terms of labeling, some products which are originally labeled in foreign languages have sub-labels in Vietnamese with inconsistent or incorrect information.

With regards to product content claim, contents of two types of cosmetic products claimed in labels were found inconsistent with those claimed in the published dossier. The inspection team asked the company to recall these products to await decision from State’s agencies.

Due to these violations, MoIT has instructed its relevant agencies to review and handle this case.

Mumuso store chain has expanded rapidly in Vietnam thanks to Vietnamese people’s preference to Korea-branded products. After only one year, the company has a total of 27 stores in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City. However, the unusual signs and operation of Mumuso’s store chain have doubted two big channels in Korea, SBS and MBC that Mumuso stores are falsely assuming Korean origins.

According to the SBS reporters, they were unable to locate Mumuso's headquarters in South Korea.