Thailand
Cambodia: Four potential products identified for GI list
Four products have been identified as potential geographical indication (GI) products, aimed at promoting the culture, tradition, customs, and tourism in Cambodia.
The Ministry of Commerce has worked on four potential products namely “Kampot-Kep Salt and Flower of Salt”, “Kampong Som Dried Shrimp”, “Koh Kong Dried Shrimp” and “Siem Reap Fish Prahok” for listing as GI products from the country.
The ministry has been working with development partners – French Development Agency (AFD) and World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) – for the registration process, said Soun Vichea, head of the Secretariat of the National Committee for Intellectual Property and Director of Intellectual Property at the Ministry of Commerce.
The ministry has sought the help of development partners to study the possibility of registering a geographical indication brand or collective brand aimed to promote the products abroad, he said.
The working group has recently explained the registration processes of the “Kampong Som Dried Shrimp” and “Kampot-Kep Salt and Flower of Salt” to farmers and stakeholders in the provinces of Preah Sihanouk, Kampot and Kep.
In Kampot province last week, the working group with support from development partners collected samples of seawater from seven designed origin areas for testing the production of unique and quality salt and flower of salt, according to the ministry’s Intellectual Property Department.
“The ministry’s Department of Intellectual Property in collaboration with national and international experts of WIPO organised a dissemination workshop and undertook samples of seawater, soil and salt to inspect the quality of Kampot-Kep Salt and Flower of Salt from seven production centres,” he said.
“The positive results showed those areas can be included in the production area of Kampot-Kep salt and flower of salt,” he added.
He called on stakeholders to actively participate in the success of the registration process.
Geographical Indication product means name, symbol, and or any other signs which are used for calling or representing a geographical origin and can identify the goods as originating in such geographical origin where the quality, reputation or other characteristics of the goods is essentially attributable to the geographical origin.
Currently, Cambodia has a few products identified as GI products such as Kampot pepper, Kampong Speu palm sugar, Koh Trong pomelo and Mondulkiri wild honey.
Only Kampot pepper and Kampong Speu palm sugar products are listed internationally as GI products in the European market.
“We hope the GI production registration process will be completed successfully soon,” he added.
Source: https://www.khmertimeskh.com/501114205/four-potential-products-identified-for-gi-list/