France to protect copyright of Vietnam's Phu Quoc fish sauce
HANOI - The French Government has pledged to protect Vietnam's Phu Quoc
brand of fish sauce from imitations in the European Union.
The chairwoman of the Phu Quoc Fish Sauce Producers' Association (PFPA),
Nguyen Thi Tinh, said the French Government's commitment came after
Vietnam's Ministry of Science, Technology and the Environment officially
recognised French Cognac's label of origin in Vietnam on May 14.
The French Government's pledge will help fish sauce producers on Phu
Quoc
Island, which lies off the country's south coast, protect their famous
trademark from inferior copycat producers overseas.
The protection would also help producers expand their market share
abroad,
Tinh said.
She said Phu Quoc Island is one of the most renowned fish sauce
producing
regions in Vietnam, and its product has won a number of national and
international prizes.
Phu Quoc Island is noted for its fish sauce as it has an abundant
resource
base, including ca com (long-jawed anchovy), a tiny fish which is raised
on
the island's fish farms.
Phu Quoc-based fish sauce producers use secret recipes that have been
passed
down from generation to generation.
For example, Phu Quoc sauce is created in containers made from a special
wood that flavours the sauce.
The sauce must please the experienced and particular taste-buds of the
island's natives before it is shipped to the rest of the world.
At present, the island has around 90 fish sauce businesses, which are
capable of producing about 10 million litres of fish sauce per year.
But Tinh said only about 0.5 million litres of Phu Quoc fish sauce reach
overseas markets (mainly EU countries) each year.
"The figure is far below the market demand, and also falls well short of
Phu
Quoc Island's production capacity," she said. Tinh attributed the Phu
Quoc
fish sauce's slow growth in the EU market to the influx of counterfeit
products produced by foreign firms, particularly from Thailand. Dang Van
Thoi, the owner of Hung Thanh - one of Phu Quoc's biggest fish sauce
producers - said fish sauce with a Phu Quoc label has garnered a strong
following in Europe.
He said Hung Thanh alone now exports 250,000 litres of fish sauce to
overseas markets a year, of which 150,000 go to EU countries. "But 80
per
cent of fish sauce labelled "Phu Quoc" in the EU market is counterfeit,
and
that's cut demand and damaged our reputation," he said. Fake Phu Quoc
fish
sauce can also be seen throughout Japan, the second-largest export
market
for Phu Quoc fish sauce, and also here in Vietnam.
To fight off copycats within the country, the PFPA has petitioned the
National Office of Industrial Property for legal assistance to protect
the
Nuoc Mam Phu Quoc label, Tinh said.
Under this proposal, only products that meet certain production and
geographical requirements can carry the Nuoc Mam Phu Quoc legend. The
fish
sauce must be produced by establishments located on Phu Quoc Island, and
should only contain ca com and salt.
Moreover, each litre of fish sauce must contain at least 20g of protein.
The
department approved the association's proposal, and the Nuoc Mam Phu
Quoc
label of origin was registered last June.
Vietnam News Agency - May 27, 2002
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