Binh Thuan dragon fruit is officially protected as a geographical indication in Japan
On October 7, 2021, after more than 3 years of filing for protection of geographical indications in Japan, the Japanese Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF) officially granted a Geographical Indication Protection Certificate for with Binh Thuan dragon fruit. This is the second agricultural product of Vietnam after Luc Ngan litchi to be granted a Geographical Indication Certificate in Japan.
"Passport" to the difficult market
The GI of Binh Thuan dragon fruit is the second GI of Vietnam officially protected in Japan. Registering a geographical indication can be said as a "passport" to enter the Japanese market in particular, the world in general. The grant of geographical indication registration means affirming the prestige of Binh Thuan dragon fruit in the Japanese market, opening up many new opportunities for the export and consumption of Binh Thuan dragon fruit in many different markets, especially in fastidious markets (Europe, Korea, New Zealand, and etc.). This also shows the role of intellectual property, which is considered a support tool for Vietnamese products to have more competitive and export advantages.
Binh Thuan dragon fruit was registered by the National Office of Intellectual Property of origin of goods on November 15, 2006 according to Decision No. 786/QD-SHTT, and on July 8, 2011, Binh Thuan Provincial People's Committee banned issued Decision No. 14/2011/QD-UBND enclosed with the Regulation on management and use of the Geographical Indication "Binh Thuan" for dragon fruit products.
Mr. Dinh Huu Phi, Director of the National Office of Intellectual Property said, the story of registering for protection of geographical indications of Binh Thuan dragon fruit in Japan is a long and interesting story, helping the NOIP to obtain many valuable experiences in supporting Vietnamese local specialties to reach the world, is a modest step that the NOIP will strive to do, which is to help Vietnam regional specialties, protected by a relatively strong protection mechanism, protection of geographical indications.
It can be seen that the successful registration of GI protection of Binh Thuan dragon fruit in Japan is a pride of people and authorities at all levels of Binh Thuan province. The National Office of Intellectual Property of Vietnam, the state's leading agency on intellectual property, has made great efforts to contribute to this process in all aspects. There are still many things to do, many difficulties to overcome, however, from the story of lychee and dragon fruit in Binh Thuan protected geographical indication, believe that in the near future, Vietnamese agricultural products will be molded with a lot of experiences, to add more products to achieve success like dragon fruit in Japan, Korea, Europe, America, Australia and many other countries around the world.
ctngoc