Basmati-Wary Govt Wakes Up To Geographical Indications

Having lost the battle for Basmati patent, the government has gone on an overdrive to protect other Indian products which have a large export market. Kashmiri carpets, Alphonso mangoes and Darjeeling tea will soon be registered as geographical indications (GI). The Geographical Indications Act, which was cleared by Parliament in 1999, is likely to come into force within a month, officials said.

The government has already identified 25 associations which it thinks should get a GI registration for their products. The products include Kashmiri carpets, Moradabadi brass, Mysore silk and Kanjeevaram sarees as well as Bidriware from Karnataka. Among the other organisations which the government is talking to are the Tea Board for Darjeeling tea, Coffee Board, and the Spices Board.

While any traditional Indian product can be given GI protection, it would be worthwhile to sift through the entire list and focus on those which are remunerative enough to be registered, officials said.

The Centre will soon start working with the state governments and the NGOs working with artisans to identify other items which should be registered as GIs. A GI logo on a product is not only an assurance of quality but also specifies the origin of the product.

GI registration in India will be the first step to getting international protection for these products. Under the Trade Related Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPs) agreement, a product has to be protected in the home country and has to be sufficiently distinctive to be recognised as a GI.

As per the TRIPs agreement, a GI is a product owing its origin to a region or reputation.

Therefore, even non-agricultural products qualify for a GI registration, said officials. While this interpretation, used by India, is broader than the one used by the European Union, it is TRIPs compliant, they said.

The National Institute of Design has been asked to create a logo which will be used to identify products which have been given GI registration.

The logo will be the same for all products, carpets or mangoes, in order to avoid confusion, officials added.

As per the GI Act, only a registered body will be allowed to apply for a GI. Along with the application, the association will have to submit an indicative list of members who produce the item for which registration is sought. While the government had earlier specified that an exhaustive list of members was to be submitted along with the application, it relaxed the requirement as various organisations pointed out that it would be impossible to list out all possible manufacturers or producers of a particular type of product.

The registered body will have to apply to the GI registry in Chennai, with a list of specifications of the product for which they are applying for the GI mark. The registrar will evaluate the application and then decide whether the product is