CANDY V PROMOTES ALMATY APORT

Today Qazpatent was visited by the President of the "Kazakhstan Association of Sugar, Food and Processing Industry" Aizhan Nauryzgaliyeva, and the vice-president of the Association Inna Mitrofanova.

The Kazakhstan Association of the Sugar Food and Processing Industry is a non-profit organization founded in 2012. It specializes in supporting and promoting the development of organizations in the sugar, food, and processing industries of the Republic of Kazakhstan - members of the Association, participating in legislative activities, and strengthening business ties with foreign partners.

The guests addressed the Qazpatent team with the topic: "Raising awareness of the means of individualizing products through geographical indications (GI)".

During the meeting, representatives of the Association spoke about the CANDY V project, the main goal of which is to promote the growth of agricultural MSMEs in Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, and Kazakhstan, thus contributing to the integration of Central Asian countries into international trade.

One of the directions within the framework of the CANDY V project is the promotion of products through geographical indications (GI). The project partners and related stakeholders have done a great job of selecting products that could registered as GIs. Almaty aport was selected from Kazakhstan to participate in the pilot project. Promotion of the product as a GI will increase the recognition of the region and will contribute to the growth of the region's economy.

During the meeting, the approaches of the CANDY V consortium, the formation of national working groups on GI, capacity building, joint inventory, feasibility study, screening, selection, and piloting (associations, specifications, control) were highlighted.

During the meeting, the guests presented a video about Almaty aport and revealed its special properties and characteristics.

In turn, the management of Qazpatent expressed its plans to promote GIs by detailing by-laws, helping manufacturers develop specifications and a control mechanism, and a system for promoting goods with GIs.

It should be noted that earlier the President of Kazakhstan, Kassym-Zhomart Tokayev, said that Almaty apples could rightfully become a national brand recognizable all over the world.