Phnom Penh: The Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts is working together with the Ministry of Commerce to conduct an investigation against Vietnamese noodle brand, “Nam Vang”. The name itself is Vietnamese for Phnom Penh. To make matter worse, the noodles branding also carries an image of Angkor Wat.

Photos of the Nam Vang noodles have circulated widely on social media, being sold in the US. This has prompted the Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts to collaborate with the Ministry of Commerce. Spokesperson for the Culture Ministry, Long Ponnasirivath, says they’ve checked with the Apsara Authority about the noodles bearing the Angkor Wat image, and the Apsara Authority says it was news to them.

Ponnasirivath says that if the Ministry of Commerce finds a basis to declare a formal “deception against the brand”, they will file complaints with international institutions related to the trade and counterfeiting of products using country identity on product labels. He has added that under the Paris Convention, member states are obligated to provide protections against unfair competition.

This is the second time in as many years that Angkor Wat has been used illegally to market a foreign food product. Last July, rice exporter “Voyage India” was forced to stop using the name and image of Cambodia’s iconic Angkor Wat temple after complaints from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation.