Promoting the "national treasure" potential
Ngoc Linh ginseng is a rare endemic medicinal material with 87 saponin compounds and many valuable biological active ingredients. Along with more than 800 medicinal plant species currently available in the area, this is a priceless biological resource to help develop the economy and improve livelihoods for people, especially ethnic minorities in high mountainous areas.
According to Vice Chairman of Da Nang City People's Committee Ho Quang Buu, Ngoc Linh ginseng is considered a Vietnamese national treasure with high pharmaceutical and economic value. In recent years, the conservation and development of Ngoc Linh ginseng, a medicinal herb in the city, has always received close attention and direction from the Government.
However, Vice Chairman of the City People's Committee Ho Quang Buu also frankly pointed out the problems and challenges existing in practice: "The development of Ngoc Linh ginseng and medicinal herbs still faces many difficulties such as production scale not commensurate with potential, linkage chains are still limited, deep processing technology has not developed strongly, and the work of protecting medicinal herb resources still faces many challenges".
To overcome these limitations and bring the medicinal herb industry to breakthrough development, Mr. Ho Quang Buu emphasized: "It is necessary to comprehensively assess the current situation, potential, challenges, mechanisms and policies; exchange experiences in research, cultivation, processing and commercialization of high-value medicinal herb products; promote linkages between the State, scientists, and businesses combined with expanding international cooperation; strengthen investment promotion, technology transfer, market expansion, and promote the effectiveness of the city's medicinal herb potential and advantages".
Strict control from planting areas to labels
At the beginning of August, Da Nang City People's Committee officially issued the Regulation on management and use of the "Ngoc Linh" geographical indication for the city's ginseng root product.
The regulations clearly stipulate that ginseng tubers bearing the geographical indication "Ngoc Linh" must be 4 years old or older, produced in the protected geographical area (including Tra Linh, Tra Nam, Tra Leng, Tra Tap communes) and fully meet the specific indicators of morphology and saponin content. The City People's Committee authorizes the Department of Science and Technology to be the agency directly managing the geographical indication.
The new point of the Regulation is the mandatory application of a separate geographical indication code for each subject (form CXXXX-SNLĐN) combined with a QR code-attached stamp to trace the origin. Geographical indication stamps are affixed directly to each ginseng root, used only once and controlled and issued by the Ngoc Linh Ginseng and Medicinal Materials Development Center based on actual verified output.
Organizations and individuals who commit acts of forging stamps and labels, using illegal geographical indications, transferring stamps or providing products of incorrect origin in the growing area will be removed from the list of recognition of usage rights and will be strictly handled according to the provisions of the Law on Intellectual Property.
