Production and sales of agricultural products bearing geographicalindications bring farmers economic benefit as Vietnam is one of theworld’s leading agricultural export countries, the Vietnam Economic Newsreported.
Geographical indication is a sign used to identifywhere a product originates in. The reputation of a product bearinggeographical indication is determined by the consumer creditworthinessto that product.
In other words, geographical indicationincreases advantages of a regional product that similar products outsidethe region cannot afford. Therefore, the normal selling price of aproduct with geographical indication is often higher than other similarproducts. In EU, sales of products with geographical indications haveaccounted for billions of euros.
According to statistics, Vietnamhas 35 products with registered geographical indications including PhuQuoc fish sauce, Buon Ma Thuot coffee, Doan Hung pomelo, Binh Minh NamRoi pomelo, Binh Thuan dragon fruit, Lang Son anise flower, Hai Hauperfumed rice, and Thanh Ha lychee. Geographical indication registrationoffer advantages for many products.
For example, Phu Quoc fishsauce was registered in 2001 and has reached an annual output of between20-30 million liters, much higher than previous output of between 5-6.5million liters. About 1.2 million liters are exported to US and severalEuropean and Southeast Asian countries. Binh Minh Nam Roi pomelo, sinceachieving geographical indication certificate, has sold for more than20,000 VND (90 cent) per kg, and the annual income per ha reaches 80-85million VND (about 3,800-4,000 USD).
However, only three among 35products with domestically registered geographical indication haveachieved international geographical indication protection. Last year,only six products achieved geographical indication registration whilestatistics showed that Vietnam had about 1,000 products apt togeographical indication registration.
According to Director ofVietnam Academy of Agricultural Sciences (VAAS) Prof. Dr. Nguyen Van Bo,many products with registered geographical indications are notprotected from unauthorised use such as Phu Quoc fish sauce and DoanHung pomelo due to a lack of sanctions. That has discouraged producersfrom registering geographical indications for their products.
Accordingto former Director General of Ministry of Science and Technology’sNational Office of Intellectual Property Tran Viet Hung, businesses andfarmers should be fully aware of the role and effect of geographicalindication in building brand identity and development, and shouldrapidly promote international geographical indication registration fordomestic agricultural products because geographical indicationregistration is required in building brand identities and when bringingagricultural products into modern distribution chains.-VNA
Geographical indication is a sign used to identifywhere a product originates in. The reputation of a product bearinggeographical indication is determined by the consumer creditworthinessto that product.
In other words, geographical indicationincreases advantages of a regional product that similar products outsidethe region cannot afford. Therefore, the normal selling price of aproduct with geographical indication is often higher than other similarproducts. In EU, sales of products with geographical indications haveaccounted for billions of euros.
According to statistics, Vietnamhas 35 products with registered geographical indications including PhuQuoc fish sauce, Buon Ma Thuot coffee, Doan Hung pomelo, Binh Minh NamRoi pomelo, Binh Thuan dragon fruit, Lang Son anise flower, Hai Hauperfumed rice, and Thanh Ha lychee. Geographical indication registrationoffer advantages for many products.
For example, Phu Quoc fishsauce was registered in 2001 and has reached an annual output of between20-30 million liters, much higher than previous output of between 5-6.5million liters. About 1.2 million liters are exported to US and severalEuropean and Southeast Asian countries. Binh Minh Nam Roi pomelo, sinceachieving geographical indication certificate, has sold for more than20,000 VND (90 cent) per kg, and the annual income per ha reaches 80-85million VND (about 3,800-4,000 USD).
However, only three among 35products with domestically registered geographical indication haveachieved international geographical indication protection. Last year,only six products achieved geographical indication registration whilestatistics showed that Vietnam had about 1,000 products apt togeographical indication registration.
According to Director ofVietnam Academy of Agricultural Sciences (VAAS) Prof. Dr. Nguyen Van Bo,many products with registered geographical indications are notprotected from unauthorised use such as Phu Quoc fish sauce and DoanHung pomelo due to a lack of sanctions. That has discouraged producersfrom registering geographical indications for their products.
Accordingto former Director General of Ministry of Science and Technology’sNational Office of Intellectual Property Tran Viet Hung, businesses andfarmers should be fully aware of the role and effect of geographicalindication in building brand identity and development, and shouldrapidly promote international geographical indication registration fordomestic agricultural products because geographical indicationregistration is required in building brand identities and when bringingagricultural products into modern distribution chains.-VNA
