DIP Deputy Director General Wanpen Nicrovanachumrus confirmed that the agency has planned to register five GI products of Thailand in foreign countries, particularly in China and Malaysia.
The agency has planned to register Ratchaburi Coconut and Prachinburi Durian as products with GIs in China, as well as Thung Kula Ronghai Hom Mali Rice, Phattalung Sang Yot Rice, and Pak Phanang Tubtim Siam Pomelo in Malaysia.
The official said those GI products have gained popularity among tourists from China and Malaysia who had tasted them while the registration as GI products will prevent possible piracy over the sales of those Thai goods in China and Malaysia in the future.
"Ratchaburi Coconut is now popular in China to the point that Chinese retailers have contacted the manufacturers for purchase orders while the registration of rice products in Malaysia corresponded to the increasing demands, and followed the Ministry of Commerce’s policy to encourage the registration of more GI products in export markets," he said.
The DIP has filed for the registration of seven GI products in foreign countries, including Thung Kula Ronghai Hom Mali Rice, Doi Tung Coffee, Doi Chang Coffee, and Phattalung Sawng Yot Rice in the European Union; Lamphun Yok Dok Silk in India and Indonesia; and Thai Isan Silk Threads in Vietnam. The GI registrations have helped those goods penetrate the export markets and made the consumers recognize them as products of high quality.
The GI registrations are currently pending for nine more products in foreign countries, incliuding Doi Tung Coffee, Doi Chang Coffee, and Huai Mun Pineapple in Japan; Thung Kula Ronghai Hom Mali Rice, Phetchabun Sweet Tamarind, and Pak Phanang Tubtim Siam Pomelo in China; Phetchabun Sweet Tamarind and Dried Golden Longan in Vietnam, and Doi Tung Coffee in Cambodia.-NNT/VNA