Deputy Minister of Science and Technology Tran Hong Thai asked agencies within the Ministry to support the proposal to develop national standards on bird’s nests and agarwood, ensuring “minimizing damage”.
The request was made by Deputy Minister Tran Hong Thai at the working session of the Ministry of Science and Technology delegation with the Khanh Hoa Provincial People’s Committee on the afternoon of August 16 to evaluate the results of science, technology and innovation activities of the locality. The two sides spent a lot of time discussing the advantages and disadvantages, proposing solutions to promote the application of science, technology, and innovation to serve the socio-economic development goals of Khanh Hoa province. In particular, the locality proposed to develop national standards for bird’s nest and agarwood products; protect the trademark “Khanh Hoa bird’s nest” and add “Bird’s nest” to the list of national products.
At the meeting, Dr. Trieu Viet Phuong, acting director of the Vietnam Institute for Standards and Quality, said that agarwood and bird’s nest are products with high economic value, so having additional tools to help control the quality better “for these two products is very necessary”.
According to Mr. Phuong, the process of building national standards always aims at international factors. “Agarwood and bird’s nest are products with high export value, so the approach must be both specific to Vietnam and suitable and meet the international market,” he said.
Dr. Phuong said that national standards are “certainly” a useful tool to preserve quality, and that scientific and survey issues to determine the specific characteristics of each product “are very important and inseparable.”
He also said that when building national standards, there should be other supporting tools to be able to “both check the quality and control the origin of these products, to be able to protect the country’s brand”.
Ms. Nguyen Nhu Quynh, Chief Inspector of the Ministry of Science and Technology, said that Khanh Hoa province’s proposal to develop national standards for bird’s nest and agarwood aims to “protect these two special products”, which are not only the province’s strengths but also have flexible development trends, bringing many economic benefits to the country.
Ms. Quynh said that when people know about Khanh Hoa, they often mention bird’s nest, but “the question is which organization will have the right to register the Khanh Hoa bird’s nest trademark and what is the scope of protection? This is a very important factor that needs to be addressed to avoid conflicts of interest between organizations and individuals”.
The same goes for agarwood. What is the problem with protecting this special product, by what method, by what intellectual property object (certified trademark or geographical indication)? “I think it’s not just a technical problem but a very big economic problem,” said Ms. Quynh.
Ms. Trinh Thi Hong Van, Chairwoman of the Board of Members of Khanh Hoa Salanganes Nest Company, said that local salanganes nest products are currently subject to unfair competition. The development of national standards will protect consumers as well as provide a tool for authorities to easily manage and ensure sustainable development of the salanganes nest industry.
“This will enhance prestige and competitiveness, open up export opportunities and affirm the value and positioning of the brand,” said Ms. Van, and at the same time recommended the Ministry for a national-level scientific task because “the unit is focusing on developing new products and scientific research.”
At the end of the meeting, Mr. Le Huu Hoang, Vice Chairman of the Provincial People’s Committee, proposed that the Ministry of Science and Technology pay attention to helping the locality in preparing and submitting to competent authorities for appraisal and approval of projects and plans mentioned in the meeting; at the same time, issue documents to guide the province in removing difficulties and obstacles in implementing the province’s science and technology tasks.
Mr. Le Huu Hoang spoke at the meeting on the afternoon of August 16. Photo: TTTT
Concluding the meeting, Deputy Minister Tran Hong Thai said that he would “pay special attention” to the locality’s proposal, and at the same time requested the Ministry’s functional units (directly the Department of Science and Technology of Economic and Technical Sectors; the Department of Intellectual Property, the Committee for Standards, Metrology and Quality) to coordinate with relevant units to continue guiding locality’s implementation.
“I request that the ministry’s functional units coordinate with relevant sectors to continue synthesizing difficulties and proposals from localities to promptly resolve and help localities,” said Deputy Minister Thai.
He also requested Khanh Hoa to accelerate the implementation of science and technology programs and tasks that directly serve the goals and tasks of socio-economic development, effectively promote the potential and advantages of the province; focus on developing local advantageous products, products according to the value chain, serving the growth and socio-economic development of the province.