What is business ethics?

Business ethics is a set of principles and standards that regulate, evaluate, guide, and
control the behavior of business entities. Business ethics is the ethics applied in business
activities.

Business ethics is a part to create profits in a competitive environment, an

indispensable code of conduct for all businesses that need longevity and sustainable
development. Meanwhile, social responsibility in Vietnam has been recognized and has
taken initial steps. Along with the development of the country, that responsibility will be
enhanced along with the perfection of the legal framework, state apparatus, and economic
institutions. By improving their business ethics and social responsibility, Vietnamese
enterprises will develop sustainably, with more and more products bearing Vietnamese
brands, intelligence, and people.

Consumers always want to buy goods at the lowest price but want good quality, and
commercial establishments want the highest interest rates.

For example, society wants to reduce environmental pollution, while businesses

want to minimize the costs incurred when complying with regulations on environmental
protection in their production activities. Since then, an inevitable conflict has arisen in the
concept of business ethics, due to the difference in the interests of the company with the
interests of employees, consumers, and the whole society. Because all of the above
contradictions are inevitable, managers are forced to study to balance the interests of the
company with the interests of shareholders and stakeholders, including employees,
customers, and the entire community.

1. Choose business ethics in practice

In recent years, public opinion has repeatedly

condemned business phenomena that violate ethics, run after
profits, and ignore public interests. In our country, recently,
there have been many pressing cases in public opinion such as
the case of Vedan Company polluting the Thi Vai River, the
Formosa Ha Tinh case polluting the central sea... and a series of
related cases. Regarding food safety and hygiene, it shows that
the responsibilities of ministries and branches are still loose,
legal regulations have not been adjusted in time with the rapid
development of society.
 And the main issue I want to present is the case of the production, sale of drugs,
dietary supplements, and excessive advertising about the ability to support cancer
treatment of Vinaca Co3.2 and the story of the Vinaca startup multi-level system with get-
rich-quick fiction

2. Description of the selected company

VINACA CO., LTD

Address: No. 17, Alley 40, Cu Loc Street, Thuong Dinh Ward, Thanh Xuan District,
Hanoi City

Legal representative: Nguyen Xuan Thu

License date: April 12, 2017

In 2012, Mr. Nguyen Xuan Thu (director of VINACA Co., Ltd.) and Nguyen Van Tuan
(director of Hong An Phong Co., Ltd.) discussed and agreed to produce CO3.2 cancer
treatment Vinaca, CO2 Osteoarthritis Vinaca. Vinaca Vi3, Vi4, Vi5, Vi6, Vi7, Vinaca Spa soap,
XO alcohol, Vinaca Carbon multi-purpose from charcoal powder burned from bamboo,
papaya stem, kohlrabi root, turmeric, ...

Mr. Nguyen Van Tuan then established Hong An Phong Company, registered to trade
in products from wood, bamboo, straw..., manufacturing common machines. Mr. Thu plays
the role of supplying machinery and equipment, raw materials and directing Mr. Tuan to
burn coal for production materials.
 On April 12, 2017, Mr. Thu and Mr. Tuan established Vinaca Co., Ltd. with Mr. Thu as
General Director with a charter capital of one billion dongs.

Regarding a number of products such as shampoo, Spa soap under the Vinaca brand,
they have purchased Sunsilk oil and soap ingots and mixed, re-processed... Product prices,
as well as quantity shipped, are by Mr. Collect's decision. For example, Spa soap products:
70,000 VND / cake, XO Vinaca wine costs 1.5 million VND / bottle, CO3 cancer medicine
costs up to 2 million VND / bottle

3. Describe how business ethics issues/scandals affect the company and the
community

In October 2017, Vinaca Co., Ltd. was awarded the certificate by the Institute of Anti-
Counterfeiting Technology (Vietnam Anti-Counterfeiting and Brand Protection Association)
in collaboration with the Business Support and Brand Development Consulting Center. Top
10 leading brands, products and services in Vietnam in 2017”. This is a very effective front
for this company to expand the market nationwide and there have been public signs of
multi-level selling.

When the case was discovered, the agencies involved in the organization of
recognition, promotion, and introduction pushed the responsibility to another agency. For
example, the explanation of Mr. Le Trong Anh - Director of the Center for Business Support
and Brand Development, a permanent member of the Organizing Committee of the
Ceremony to honor 10 prestigious and best-selling brands in the country 2017:

“The award only certifies the brand, not the product quality. Evaluation of product
quality is the competence of other agencies. We organize a program to honor the brand,
seeing that Vinaca's brand is good, many people know it, many branches, support startups,
so it fits the criteria."

This is a very irresponsible statement to consumers as well as to the social

community.

a. Functional foods, fake cancer drugs

Link Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cuiCmCkhTjw

Miraculous use of Vinaca Co3.2: The product Vinaca Co3.2 was introduced to have
an effect on the digestive system that is used to support the treatment of cancer, tumors,
and digestive diseases... even cures even HIV disease. This seemingly super-fantasy story is
surprisingly still attractive to many people. And products are only sold online, delivery and
payment at home.

The product is stated to be packed at Trang Ly Pharma Co facility, but according to

Deputy Director of the Market Management Department Tran Hung, Trang Ly side
confirmed that they did not know who Vinaca was. "In this case, Vinaca also violates when
counterfeiting other people's trademarks"

Regarding the effect of bamboo charcoal, whether it can miraculously cure cancer,
Professor Nguyen Duy Thinh, Institute of Biotechnology, Hanoi University of Science and
Technology said, this is a story that deceives consumers. “Bamboo charcoal doesn't have
any healing effects, but it's not harmful either. “We have to wait for the authorities, the
Drug Administration to conclude what is in the Vinaca tablets, to know the specifics. But if
you consider bamboo charcoal as a portion of food to support treatment, there must be
healing substances in it
 According to Dr. Pham Dinh Tuan, Oncology Specialist, Agricultural General Hospital,
medical history has used a lot of activated carbon for detoxification. With the use of
activated carbon-containing products, he has not seen any research group's publication
confirming that activated charcoal has the effect of killing or preventing cancer:

“If you look at how they make such crude products, no one can guarantee that these
coal powders contain harmful impurities, especially lead, aluminum, and iron that exceed
the allowable threshold. will cause unpredictable harm to the body. I do not believe in the
advertising of products containing activated charcoal that work to prevent this incurable
disease when there is no scientific evidence to prove it. Investigative work needs to have
authorities involved.”

According to Chairman of the Hanoi Oriental Medicine Association Nguyen Hong

Sim, the bamboo burned into charcoal and ground into a powder has no therapeutic effect.
To be called activated carbon, there is a very specific process, when bamboo is burned, it
must be activated in a water environment with a temperature of 900 to 1000 degrees
Celsius, then it becomes activated carbon, and is mainly used for detoxification. “Activated
charcoal must be produced, tested, and controlled strictly for quality, and then given to
everyone to drink, not indiscriminately. It's too dangerous to burn wood into charcoal and
then drink it," said Mr. Sim.

Talking about Vinaca pellets produced by bamboo charcoal, Mr. Siem said that
"Burning bamboo charcoal ... and then crushing it, packing it into pellets like that is
completely unscientific, the detoxifying effect does not exist, let alone say anything. to cure
cancer”. Mr. Sim also expressed the view that the production of fake functional foods is
extremely unethical behavior.

b. Multi-level system

According to clips spread online, the journey to win people over by owner Nguyen
Xuan Thu, General Director of Vinaca Company, has many tricks to deceive people. “We only
grant and give Vinaca, an average annual income of 400-500 million VND per capita. The
brothers and sisters struggled to make ends meet, I gave them a few billion to spend
gradually."

The dream-like prospect of houses, cars, billions of dollars in income... blurs the eyes
of many people. Therefore, Vinaca has developed with dozens of facilities nationwide.
Vinaca not only bombarded Hai Phong, Hanoi, and Ho Chi Minh City but also reached nearly
20 other provinces and cities such as Quang Ninh, Nam Dinh, Son La, Dien Bien, Ha Giang,
Dac Nong, Hau Giang... Hundreds of people have fallen into the trap. There are people who
have given up a mountain of money for their belief in changing their lives thanks to Vinaca.

On the afternoon of April 20, the Investigative Police Agency (Hai Phong City Police)
prosecuted a case on the crime of producing and trading in counterfeit food, food, and food
additives specified in Article 193 of the Code. Criminal procedure in 2015 for the above case
to be handled according to law.

Mr. Tran Hung, Deputy Director of the Market Management Department, said that
Vinaca revealed many violations that need to be dealt with strictly. Vinaca Company not
only deceived the authorities, deceived consumers from producing fake functional foods to
counterfeiting labels, product uses, buying Top 10 awards, etc., but also made sales. Multi-
level disguised, transformed, scammed hundreds of people.

Consequences of the problem

• Because the production process of bamboo charcoal is still quite rudimentary, the
quality cannot be guaranteed

• The patient's mentality "co benh vai tu phuong" but does not fully understand the
treatment measures that make the patient and the patient's family lose money because of
"tien mat tat mang" - 1 pill of viagra is not It's not cheap - the price of 1 pill is 24,000 VND, 1
bottle so about 2,000,000 VND

• The shouting of the company's products in the sky but it does not meet what the
company advertised

With the desire and hope to be able to cure cancer:

• Make patients give up or change the treatment regimens set out by the hospital in
order to trust and use Vinaca's products and products of unknown origin in general.

• Many families have put all their assets to borrow for treatment in " blindly "