Exclusive origin: Pomelo grower Tan Swee Kong inspecting his harvest.
IPOH: Just like harummanis mango from Perlis and Bentong ginger, perhaps it’s time for the humble Tambun pomelo to assert itself to prevent pretenders to the throne.
“It’s high time for the famed Tambun pomelo to be registered as an intellectual property (IP) under geographical indications,” said Gopeng MP Tan Kar Hing.
He said the pomelo industry here has matured and that it should take the next step to protect its name and image.
“The Geographical Indications Act protects against falsely representing to the public that goods originate from another country, territory, region, or locality.”
Speaking to reporters yesterday after attending a pomelo growers’ empowerment programme in Kampung Baru Ampang here, Tan said Tambun pomelo had already become a brand so “we need to protect its name and image.”
“Several other places in the country are already growing the fruit. We don’t want the efforts of our growers who have put in so much money and hard work to develop the industry to come to naught,” he said, adding that Tambun pomelo has been grown here since the 1940s.
“An IP would also ensure the fruit can have added value,” he added.
Tan said he hoped that the name “Tambun pomelo” would be exclusive to how it is grown and cultivated.
He said the growers and the state Agriculture Department would need to thrash out the necessary details to streamline the specifics required for the product to be called Tambun pomelo.
These included the type of soil and minerals required to plant the fruit, the weather, varieties, taste, sizes, sweetness level and colours, he said.
“The product is ready and the quality of the fruits, especially those from Tambun, are assured.
“We don’t want growers from other areas to simply use the name, which could impact its image if anything were to go wrong.
“If the fruit is grown in Tenom, they should call it Tenom pomelo, instead of Tambun,” he said, adding that he is hopeful that they could get it done within six months.
“After that, we can then push for Malaysia Good Agricultural Practices (MyGAP) certification and also develop the downstream industry,” he said, adding that the fruit was being exported to Hong Kong, Singapore, China and other countries.
“We are pushing for the growers from Tambun, Ampang and Ulu Piah to set up an non-governmental organisation so that we can go for the IP registration,” he said.
