Famous rice flake snack gets govt trademark

COMMUNITIES in western Kampong Thom’s Sankoa commune, which is at the heart of a centuries-old tradition of cooking and preparing rice flakes usually eaten during the kingdom’s annual water festival, are set to enjoy a shared sense of a dedication to their craft as the Ministry of Commerce designates their product as a “collective trademark”.

The flakes are cooked rice that is fried dry and pounded by mortar and pestle.

The ministry has labelled the rice flakes made in Sankoa – located in the western reaches of Kampong Svay district – as “Ambok Kampong Thom”.

Suon Vichea, director of the ministry’s Department of Intellectual Property Rights, defines collective trademarks as signs that distinguish products by geographical origin, industry, quality or other common characteristics.

They are registered under an owner, he said, usually an organisation composed of businesses, merchants and professionals from the same industry or geographical region that pools resources, shares information and provides other benefits for its members.

According to ministry secretary of state Ouk Prachea, the designation is expected to improve preservation of the region’s time-honoured Khmer heritage of ambok-making, draw tourists, create jobs and champion local economic development.

He was speaking at the General Assembly of the Kampong Thom Ambok Producers on Feb 16.

Prachea said the designation would bring together skilled ambok producers and spur training and knowledge-sharing programmes, creativity and the development of novel formulas and methods for future generations.

“I would like to encourage the ‘Ambok Kampong Thom’ producers and relevant authorities to work together and carry out the project to a successful completion with a ‘One Village, One Product’ approach.

“This will be beneficial to rural development and trim down poverty and migration, which will contribute to the development of the national economy and bring it to another level,” he said.

Kampong Thom Provincial Administration spokesman Yov Sengkun noted that the collective trademark registration was a first for the province and would encourage locals to ramp up production and quality. — The Phnom Penh Post/ANN