A vast amount of inauthentic Phu Quoc fish sauce has flooded the market after Phu Quoc received the EU certificate of Protected Designation of Origin in 2012.

The problem was brought up by Nguyen Thi Tinh, chairwoman of Phu Quoc Fish Sauce Association on July 17 at a meeting held by the Ministry of Industry and Trade, authorities of Kien Giang Province and EU delegation. Currently, four enterprises export their fish sauce to EU and several Asian countries.

Though they have the certificate of Protected Designation of Origin, they still have to compete with other 'Phu Quoc' fish sauce brands which are really produced in Thailand and Hong Kong.

Even in the domestic market, an estimated 80% of Phu Quoc fish sauces is fake.

Ho Kim Lien, Director of Khai Hoan Fish Sauce Company, said only 50% of the output meets the requirements of Protected Designation of Origin and only 5% of those are actually made and bottled on Phu Quoc Island.

While fake fish sauces have become ubiquitous in the market, enterprises in Phu Quoc mostly sell materials for making fish sauce instead of the finished product.

According to many companies, fake fish sauce can easily gain access to the market because they are cheaper.