World Food Policy
Figure 2: GI control system in Thailand
Source: Authors’ survey.
can directly control all producers/pro-
cessors.
The new 2012 regulation allows
ISO 17Â 065-accredited certification
bodies to inspect and issue certificates
for Thai GIs. This is a voluntary choice
of the GI producer/processor groups.
Such a certification body can be ac-
credited by the EU or by the Thai ACFS
once the new GI accreditation scheme
is effective. The Thai system thus allows
GI producers/processors to choose be-
tween several control options.
In Vietnam, in the absence of a
homogeneous national system, rules
for managing GIs, i.e. granting and re-
voking the right to use the GI, are very
diverse. The right to use the GI is grant-
ed by the management body (the public
authority that registered the GI), but is
not conditional upon control of com-
pliance of the product to the GI spec-
ification, even if in some cases control
boards were created. The control board
usually comprises representatives from
the Directorate for Standards, Metrol-
ogy and Quality (STAMEQ) under the
MoST, at the Provincial level. Initial-
ly involved in the creation of the GI
for Nuoc Mam Phu Quoc (fish sauce),
NAFIQAD (National Agro-Forest-
ry-Fisheries Quality Assurance Depart-
ment, under the Ministry of Agricul-
ture) mainly controls compliance with
mandatory food safety regulations and
with some voluntary standards such as
VietGAP through a network of labo-
ratories scattered around the country.
It considers that State agencies should
not be involved in the control of volun-
tary standards such as GIs. NAFIQAD
is funded by the State and by certifica-
tion fees. Hai Phong Branch employs 15
people for laboratory analyses, 15 peo-
ple for certification, and 10 people for
administrative work. Each department
of the Ministry of Agriculture and Ru-
ral Development (MARD) is in charge
of accrediting certification agencies
against specific standards, which cre-
ates considerable confusion: e.g., the
Department of Crop Production is in
116