The image of lotus ponds blooming and spreading their fragrant scent has been around for a long time, but it has become a beautiful memory for every Vietnamese person when they visit Nam Dan to visit Uncle Ho's hometown. With the mission of planting, caring for and preserving precious lotus varieties, and deeply processing products and services from lotus plants, in 2019, Uncle Ho's Hometown Lotus Agricultural Cooperative was established. Up to now, the cooperative has built a large-scale lotus growing area with a rich variety of lotus flowers. From there, it creates raw materials to process lotus products such as lotus leaf tea, lotus tea, lotus flower tea, lotus heart tea, dried lotus seeds, lotus root tea, etc.
Through the chain of activities providing materials, seeds, fertilizers and output consumption for local people, lotus products have attracted and served visitors and tourists in Kim Lien, Nam Dan. In May 2022, Bac Que Sen Agricultural Cooperative was granted a certificate of trademark registration and a certificate of copyright registration for the expression of Bac Que Sen logo.
Mr. Pham Kim Tien - Director and Chairman of the Board of Directors of Bac Que Sen Agricultural Cooperative said: The cooperative is planting, caring for, preserving and supplying over 100 different lotus varieties. There are currently 15 products processed from lotus, of which 9 products meet OCOP standards. The Bac Que Sen OCOP product set has become an indispensable gift for many people every time Tet comes or in formal ceremonies. Being granted a trademark helps the cooperative build and enhance the reputation and value of the product, thereby accessing new markets more easily.
With the goal of becoming a national product, Bac's Hometown Sen is constantly striving in all aspects to become the leading unit in the lotus industry in the country. Bac's Hometown Sen Cooperative is also creating jobs for nearly 100 local workers from the lotus production model combined with eco-tourism.
Or for the geographical indication for Ky Son ginger products, starting from the selection of specific crops of ethnic minorities in the area, the District People's Committee has chosen ginger as the key crop to develop the economy and increase income for the people. Immediately after being certified for geographical indication registration, the Ky Son District People's Committee issued a process to guide the techniques of planting, caring for, harvesting and preserving ginger products with the geographical indication "Ky Son"; granted a certificate of right to use "Ky Son ginger" to the Huong Son Small Industry Agricultural Cooperative. Currently, Ky Son ginger is developed in 15 communes with 2 varieties of ginger and buffalo ginger, with a planting area of about 700 - 800 hectares.
Since being certified for geographical indication registration, ginger has been grown from traditional, small-scale methods by ethnic minorities to concentrated cultivation, applying new technical processes, resulting in high productivity and output, and increased revenue compared to previous years. The product's consumption market is still mainly concentrated in the domestic market with main products such as: Red apple ginger tea, dried sliced ginger, nano ginger essential oil, car hanging essential oil, ginger powder, ginger extract.
Many localities have paid attention to building brands for key products, for example, the indication for Vinh oranges. Vinh oranges are oranges grown in areas certified for geographical indication protection, including the districts of Tan Ky, Quy Hop, Hung Nguyen, Nghi Loc, Nghia Dan, Yen Thanh, Nam Dan, Nghi Loc, Thai Hoa, Thanh Chuong, Anh Son, Con Cuong. Since Vinh oranges were granted a registration certificate, their brand has gradually been affirmed, not only popular domestically but also for export. The price of oranges in the geographical indication area has increased many times.
However, since 2020, the orange growing area has shown signs of slowing down and decreasing sharply, and the orange yield and output have also gradually decreased. The orange growing area has decreased sharply, but in order to maintain the Vinh orange brand, it is necessary to resolutely eliminate the infected orange areas and plant other tree species to restore the soil. Currently, only a few communes in districts such as Yen Thanh and Thanh Chuong are still maintaining and developing Vinh orange products well. Some communes in Quy Hop, Con Cuong, Nghia Dan districts and Thai Hoa town have significantly reduced planting areas. Up to now, Yen Thanh district is emerging as a new "barn" of Vinh oranges to replace Quy Hop district, but the district's agricultural sector still recommends that people do not grow oranges en masse. Only places with cool and suitable climates are planned for orange growing areas. Before planting, people are also encouraged to participate in training courses to master the techniques of planting and caring for orange trees.
Collective trademarks and certified trademarks that have been protected and are being registered for protection are all specialty products or traditional products of localities, such as fish sauce, seafood, lotus from Uncle Ho's hometown, rice paper, peanut candy, fermented wine, honey, turmeric starch, incense, bo giang, etc. After obtaining geographical indications for products, some localities have stepped up trade promotion activities, developed consumer markets, and helped stabilize and increase people's income.
With the effective approach of many localities, collective brands and geographical indications have made positive contributions to the two criteria of increasing income and reducing poverty - which are important and core criteria in the 19 criteria for building new rural areas, helping to improve people's lives. With innovation, Master Pham Kim Tien - Director and Chairman of the Board of Directors of Sen Que Bac Agricultural Cooperative has received many noble awards such as: Luong Dinh Cua Award, Second Prize in the Startup, Innovation and Creativity Competition of the Department of Science and Technology, First Prize in the Rural Youth Startup Project, and was awarded a Certificate of Merit by the Prime Minister for outstanding achievements in the new rural construction movement in the period of 2018 - 2020.
Or the traditional fish sauce production village of Tan An, An Hoa commune currently has about 80 production households, of which more than 20 households are large-scale. Each year, the village produces 600,000 liters of various types of fish sauce, with a revenue of more than 3 billion VND. Mr. Duong Ha Nam - owner of a fish sauce facility in the village said: On average, each year, the family produces and supplies the market with about 15,000 liters of fish sauce equivalent to more than 30 tons of raw fish. To meet market demand, the family bottles the fish sauce in glass bottles to replace plastic bottles; at the same time, it offers many designs to meet the needs of many customers. Thanks to investment in technology, changing beautiful designs, and quickly catching up with market demand, the family's fish sauce products are increasingly receiving the attention and acceptance of customers.
In 2017, the Department of Intellectual Property under the Ministry of Science and Technology announced and granted a certificate of registration of the Tan An traditional fish sauce trademark in An Hoa commune. Since then, the Tan An traditional fish sauce brand has become increasingly known to customers in many places, thanks to which the output of fish sauce supplied to the market has increased significantly, and people's income has been improved. On average, each worker has an income of 5 - 7 million VND/person/month. This is also a condition for people to promote the brand, contributing to affirming the brand as well as the quality of fish sauce that Tan An craft village has built for many years.
Also fish sauce products, in addition to Tan An traditional fish sauce, there are also some special products that have been recognized as collective brands of Phu Loi traditional fish sauce processing village, Hoang Mai town. Phu Loi fish sauce village has more than 400 establishments participating in processing and producing products such as fish sauce and shrimp paste. Of which, there are about 50 large-scale production establishments, the rest are small-scale establishments, producing medium and small output.
Mr. Pham Hong Hai, Head of Technology Management Department, Department of Science and Technology said: In recent years, the state management of intellectual property in Nghe An province has received attention, especially local products. The development of the intellectual property system is synchronized in all stages: creation, establishment of rights, exploitation and protection of intellectual property rights. Many famous craft village products are well protected and developed, products are granted collective trademarks and certification trademarks, contributing to enhancing the value of Nghe An's specialties and traditions, and are praised by consumers inside and outside the province. Craft village products that have been built and protected with effective trademarks include: Uncle Ho's hometown lotus, Quy Chau incense, Cua Lo grilled mackerel, Tay Hieu honey, Gang village molasses, Quynh Luu dried squid, Tuong Duong beef jerky, Con Cuong leaf yeast wine, etc. "Giving wings" to the trademarks of craft village products has increased their value, bringing production and business efficiency to the people.
It must be affirmed that intellectual property assets have great value, however, there are still a number of collective trademarks and certification trademarks that have been built but have not yet been effectively promoted.
The story of the passion fruit plant in Que Phong district is an example. Passion fruit was once a poverty-reducing plant, planned to grow on thousands of hectares..., but now it has almost all withered. The reason is that this is a "difficult" plant, grown on a type of soil that has been infected with fungus over many years, leading to poor plant growth and low productivity.
Or like the Dien Chau shrimp collective brand, it was thought that this would be a profitable product for the people, but now it is facing a shortage of raw materials for production and processing. The output of shrimp caught has decreased sharply in recent times, previously on average each day they could import 2-3 tons of fresh shrimp to produce shrimp, but now it is only about a few hundred kilograms. The shortage of raw materials has made the cooperative's production no longer continuous, culminating in months when it was forced to close and temporarily suspend operations. The reason for the decrease in fresh shrimp output is that fuel prices remain high, workers have changed jobs, so the number of boats going to sea is not as high as before. In addition, the current shrimp catching method is unscientific, towards destruction, so the shrimp source is increasingly decreasing.
Ms. Doan Thi Kim Oanh in Tay Loc hamlet, Dien Ngoc commune, Dien Chau district said: Before, my family alone processed 50-60 tons of fresh shrimp each month, but now it is only about 1/3 of the output. The difficulty is due to the decrease in processing materials. Previously, Dien Ngoc commune alone had 300 pairs of fishing boats, but now there are only 50 pairs. In addition, the consumption output has also decreased even though the family's products have been recognized as 3-star OCOP, leading to a decrease in income. Currently, the shrimp production group still has 5 participating households, but in general, it is not as strong as when the production group first started operating.
Households participating in cooperatives enjoy the benefits brought by cooperatives, are supported with costs of renting locations, supported with machinery and equipment for investment in the production and business process to create the highest efficiency. However, besides the well-developed collective brands, there are still a few brands that have been built but have not promoted the role of cooperatives, despite having support from local state management agencies. Partly because they believe that collective brands and geographical indications are the common property of cooperatives, associations, and unions, not of any individual. For example, the collective brand of Vinh Duc Rice Paper and Peanut Candy Craft Village, Do Luong District. The main products of the cooperative are sesame rice paper, peanut candy, cu do candy, etc.
Products distributed to the market are fully stamped and labeled, and are increasingly known by many people and in demand as gifts, especially during holidays and Tet. Thanks to that, production facilities have contributed to creating more stable jobs for local people. However, during operation, although the cooperative has a common brand, each production facility still follows the style of each person doing their own thing, without consistency in the production process, packaging, labels, and labels when affixed to the products. This leads to the failure to promote the role of the cooperative, making the economic capacity of each participating member uneven.
According to statistics, Nghe An has 159 traditional products and local specialties that can be developed into commercial products. By June 2023, Nghe An has 1,761 protected objects, including 10 inventions, 22 utility solutions, 81 industrial designs, 1,648 trademarks, 2 geographical indications, 9 certification marks, and 32 collective marks.
Mr. Pham Hong Hai - Head of Technology Management Department, Department of Science and Technology said: Through the actual inspection of the exploitation and development of protected intellectual properties in 14 districts in the province with 26 collective trademarks and geographical indications that have been registered and protected, it shows that the management, exploitation and development of basic trademarks are well implemented by organizations and individuals. However, the number of protected subjects is very small compared to more than 12,000 enterprises operating in the province. "Nghe An has great potential for specialty plants and animals. Products bearing geographical names and craft villages are developing, but the number of protected geographical indications and collective trademarks is too small, not commensurate with the potential of the locality and compared to other localities in the country" - Mr. Hai shared.
From the current situation of management and development of products protected by geographical indications and collective trademarks in Nghe An, it can be seen that localities in the province and trademark owners are not proactive, still confused and encounter many difficulties in building and implementing plans for management and product development. These limitations may stem from many reasons such as: Raw material areas, cultivation, farming, processing and small-scale production cannot meet the demand for products when there is a brand. The lack of information, breaking the planning, and following the market demand for local agricultural products proposed for trademark registration make it difficult to register for protection.
Meanwhile, the awareness of a part of agricultural producers and traders, especially people in areas with geographical indications associated with specialties, has not seen the clear benefits of protection, so they have not actively protected and built them, and each person does their own thing.
Enterprises producing products with collective trademarks and geographical indications are mostly small and cannot meet the distribution and consumption needs of domestic and export enterprises. Craft village products lack concentration in planning to serve visitors and tourists; Some products are of good quality and delicious but lack commercial enterprises so they have not been developed. Enterprises have not grasped some regulations when putting products on the market such as: Labels, trademark exclusivity, food safety, barcode registration, self-declaration of product quality... and this is one of the biggest reasons why brands have not been able to develop in the past.
Mr. Nguyen Quy Linh - Director of the Department of Science and Technology assessed: The development of the agricultural market in the recent period has shown the position, role and great potential of agricultural products with the support of community brands. It can be seen that for local specialty products, in addition to the advantages in quality, production factors, cultural and traditional consumption, etc., development associated with community brands is a suitable direction, becoming an effective tool for sustainable production development.
However, the effectiveness of collective trademarks and geographical indications is only achieved when the products have quality and market potential, when producers and traders act collectively to manage and market common products under the geographical indication logo. Therefore, it is necessary to conduct feasibility studies on products before intending to build collective trademarks and geographical indications.
The Director of the Department of Science and Technology said that in order to promote the construction and management of intellectual property in the coming time, synchronous solutions are still needed. The choice of protection form needs to be based on the conditions of scale, product characteristics, quality, etc., and the requirements of each form of protection to decide.
Strengthen training and capacity building, including the development and addition of training content on brand management and development in training programs to improve capacity for cooperatives, cooperative managers, craft villages, and rural vocational training. Identifying the capacity to manage and develop agricultural product brands is a key content in the training program, aiming to promote and improve the operational efficiency of cooperatives, associations, especially commercial capacity. It is necessary to focus on supporting the organizational capacity and market development of cooperatives. Prioritize support for businesses and cooperatives in projects and support activities, as a foundation to promote the use of brands in the market, creating a basis and motivation to increase product value.
“Local authorities where there are specialties should have policies to encourage and support people in choosing, preserving and developing traditional products. Collective trademark owners, certification trademark owners, and geographical indication managers must properly manage these subjects after registration, through usage regulations and management regulations. State management agencies in the area need to play a good role as a bridge, supporting the creation of close links between businesses and people in exploiting and promoting the values of protected products,” the Director of the Department of Science and Technology emphasized.