Phu Quoc fish sauce trademark, famousin Vietnam and many countries in the world, is being undercut byimitators, despite being a protected geographic indication andappellation of origin since 2001.

There are 94 establishments producing the sauce on Phu Quoc island,offshore the southern province of Kien Giang , providing 13-15 millionlitres a year to the market, Nguyen Thi Tinh, Chairwoman of Associationof Phu Quoc Fish Sauce Producers, told Vietnam News Agency.

Thanks to its traditional recipe, Phu Quoc fish sauce has its owncharacteristic colour and flavour, Luong Thanh Hai, Director of theKien Giang Province Science-Technology Service, said.

However, the fine reputation of the fish sauce has lead to imitatorslooking to cash in on the name, Nguyen Huy Hoang, Vice Director of theThanh Ha Fish Sauce Co. Ltd, said. Many producers from other provinces,even Vietnamese firms abroad intentionally used the trademark Phu Quocfor their products, he added.

Meanwhile, most of fish sauce production establishments on the islandare small scale operations, and they all use the name Phu Quoc. Thesheer number of fish sauces that have a right to the geographicindication and reputation makes it difficult to implement qualitycontrol and separate the imitations from the real thing. Furthermore,despite the geographic indication for Phu Quoc fish sauce having takeneffect in 2001, no production establishment has yet been granted theright to use it.

Additionally, standards regulating quality and specifying the use ofthe trade mark are not clear, limiting the effectiveness of protectingthe Phu Quoc name.

Hoang attributed the delay by local sauce makers in registering for theappellation of origin to businesses from other places using it,diluting the power of the name.

In order to protect Phu Quoc island fish sauce producers, the KienGiang province People’s Committee in 2008 issued regulations onmanagement and the use of the geographic indication, helping enhancethe capacity of relevant agencies to control the situation.

Also, the Kien Giang province Science-Technology Service and theVietnam-Switzerland project on intellectual property have recentlyorganised a workshop on protection and management of the Phu Quoc fishsauce geographic indication.

The Association of Phu Quoc Fish Sauce Producers is preparing to carryout a series of solutions such as designing logos, registering as asole trademark, and building regulations on management and use of thetrade mark. These would stipulate that member businesses meet strictrequirements on production, materials, quality and environmental impact.

Once all the fish sauce producers on Phu Quoc island take part in theprogramme, consumers will be able to tell the real thing from theimitators, as products without the official logo would be imitations,Tinh said./.