WIPO praises products from Thailand’s North

WIPO director-general Francis Gurry, who travelled to the North along with Department of Intellectual Property (DIP) chief Tossapol Tungsubut on Tuesday to observe the production process, urged people to help sustainably conserve the sources of such outstanding items.
Tossapol quoted Gurry as saying that he was impressed with Thai agriculture and handicrafts as seen in his recent visits to the Chiang Mai Celadon Factory as well as two other sites in Lamphun. “This is a great opportunity for these communities to receive a PR boost on the world stage,” Tossapol said. 

He said his department had registered Chiang Mai Celadon ceramics as the northern province’s geographical indication product. The department has joined with the manufacturers to control product quality while bearing in mind its cultural and community roots, and would help marketing them for export to global markets. 
Tossapol said the government saw the importance in protecting the various Thai provinces’ geographical identification products, which have unique selling-points and wanted to conserve them with sustainability. This, in turn, would help raise the products’ value and prevent product copying.

Tossapol hoped that Gurry’s visit would help inform potential customers in other countries, especially in Europe, where people placed importance on buying products with originality. This would help boost the Thai operators and communities’ ability to compete effectively in the world market.