This is the second agricultural product of Vietnam to receive PGI status in Japan, after Luc Ngan lychee.
The PGI status of Binh Thuan dragon fruit affirms its prestige in the Japanese market, opening many new opportunities for the export and consumption of Binh Thuan dragon fruit in many different markets, especially in difficult markets such as the Europe, the Republic of Korea, and New Zealand. This also shows the role of intellectual property, which is considered a support tool for Vietnamese products to have more competitive and export advantages.
According to Dinh Huu Phi, Director of the Intellectual Property Office of Vietnam under the Ministry of Science and Technology, Japan is well known for being a "difficult" market with strict legal provisions on the protection of geographical indications.
Products granted the PGI certification in Japan are almost completely trusted by local consumers and have much higher selling prices than non-protected products in Japan.
Therefore, this is an important milestone in the process of bringing Vietnamese dragon fruit into Japan as well as paving the way for the promotion of PGI for other Vietnamese agricultural products in this market.
