WORKSHOP ON BUILDING AND PROTECTING COLLECTIVE TRADEMARKS FOR NATURAL HONEY
September 20, 2022 at the cultural house of Dung K' No commune, Lac Duong district, Lam Dong province. Vietnam Non-Timber Forest Products Program - NTFP.EP with the support of Caritas Da Lat organized a workshop to build and protect collective trademarks for natural honey.
Tjoinseminar includes 55 delegatescomes fromDepartment of Agriculture and Rural Development, Women's Union, Lac Duong District Farmers' Association. People's Committee, Farmers' Association, Women's Union, Youth Union of Dung K' No commune. Caritas Da Lat and the communities of Ninh Thuan, Binh Thuan, Gia Lai, Binh Dinh of NTFP.EP. There were also members of the Pokao bee cooperative group present.
Mr. Do Quy Tien - Vice Chairman of the People's Committee of Dung K' No commune delivered the opening speech at the conference. We hope that the Pokao bee group's model will continue to develop and expand, creating many livelihood incentives for people.
The workshop started with a presentation by the Pokao bee group. Background and reasons why the Pokao bee group was formed with the purpose of sustainable development and adding value to natural products, along with dreams for the group to perfect the honey processing process and achieve FHCM certification (Asian collective brand).
Dr. Luu Hong Truong - Director of the Southern Institute of Ecology,Advisor to the Non-Timber Forest Products Exchange Program (NTFP-EP) in Vietnam introduced Forest Harvest Collective Brand (FHCM): Regional brand and certification process for community-based non-timber forest products (NTFP) businesses.
Participatory Guarantee System (PGS) “Participatory Guarantee Systems (PGS) are locally oriented quality assurance systems. Certification of manufacturing facilities relies on the active participation of stakeholders and is built on trust, social relationships and knowledge exchange.” (IFOAM, 2008)
What PGS is, its principles, characteristics, importance, PGS certification process... were presented by Dr. Tran Thi Thanh Binh - Director of the Organic Agriculture Center of Hanoi University of Forestry. She also integrated a number of sample models for participants to better understand a model needed to operate PGS.
Ms. Dinh Thi Hong Phuc - Deputy Director of Caritas Da Lat shared cThe story of the organic vegetable group IEm Gõh ChuRu and certified by Caritas Dalat farmers' guarantee system - CFGS is a guarantee system with the participation of Caritas Dalat.
Qprogress exploit, processing,and preserving wild honey under the collective label for natural products (FHCM) presented by Dr. Phung Huu Chinh - Director of Vietnam Bee Research and Development Center (BRDC), Advisor of the Non-Timber Forest Products Exchange Program (NTFP-EP). FHCM is an initiative of the non-timber forest products program. To achieve this label, it is necessary to ensure three factors: the product meets market and safety standards, the product is sustainably harvested and the traceability of the product is harvested from forests managed by the community in a sustainable way.
Finally, there is the presentation Processes and procedures for building and managing brand development for products (FHCM). The structure of the PGS system includes: producer, production group, inter-group and coordination board. Each group has its own role and tasks to form the PGS system.
The workshop ended with a commitment to participate in the PGS coordination board from representatives of commune and district authorities, Caritas Dalat and experts who attended the entire day of the workshop.
Especially the enthusiastic words from the commune chairman to group PHeykao: 'never before had we seen a group of farmers come to the commune to ask to establish a cooperative group...' gave the group more motivation to boldly participate in Asia's first sample process of building a collective brand for natural honey. Wish Dung K' No not only developed the Pokao honey brand but also developed many other indigenous products. And I wish the cooperation of supporting units to be sustainable in the long term to create synergy to bring Dung K' No forward.
Another activity is cvisit the secret house of the Pokao group, delegatesarrived Visiting the honey quality after the water separation test also increases the pride of the members. Bee hunters suddenly become experts when analyzing and explaining to customers why water must be separated from honey, how to use a pen to measure honey water content, and how to compare undehydrated honey and dehydrated honey.
FestivalThao ended successfully in an atmosphere of joy and excitement and hope for product brand developmentspecialty, promote specific local advantages. Wishes for the cooperation of units to accompany people for a long time on the path to reap many good results.
Caritas Da Lat Center
