There is much in a name

States too must register geographical indication

Geographical Indication registration is known to increase the profitability of local manufacturers, but in India, only a few states are pushing their products.

Would a buyer fancy a Banarasi sari made in China? Or even Tamil Nadu? He would certainly feel cheated, not to speak of the violation of the rights of the weavers of Benares. But this vulnerability affects many products and their manufacturers, whether it is Santiniketan leather bags, Lucknow chikan, Kota Doria, Kashmiri pashmina shawls and carpets or Darjeeling tea.

Recently, UNCTAD (United Nations Conference on Trade and Development) helped the weavers apply for registering Banarasi silk for GI, or geographical indication, under the Geographical Indications of Goods (Registration and Protection) Act, 1999. This opens up legal remedies to prevent producers in other regions from free-riding on the reputation of Banarasi silk.

So far, 106 products have been registered for GI. These include Kancheepuram silk, Kota Doria, Chanderi fabric, Mysore agarbatti, Kullu shawls, Kangra tea, Bastar iron craft, Indore’s leather, and Feni.

UNCTAD is one of the several agencies which have been assisting producer communities in various regions get GI protection and in branding their produce.

GI is like a patent that does not go to an individual owner but to a whole community and place that is linked to a particular product. The law was enacted as part of a deal under the TRIPS agreement of the World Trade Organisation and allows countries to protect their local products through the GI route.

UNCTAD’s India chapter, which is dedicated solely to the GI project, has so far helped register three products.

The extent to which a GI stamp helps a producer is evident from a study done by the Rajasthan Chamber of Commerce on Kota Doria. The study found that the GI label tripled earnings of weavers in the area.

About 70 per cent weavers knew the benefits of being GI-registered and were enthusiastically weaving in the Kota Doria GI logo on the clothes made by them. Fake Doria sellers are now forced to sell under names like Kota Cotton. It is another matter that only one case has been filed against traders dealing in fake Kota Dorias, which the study says is due to poor awareness about the procedure for filing a complaint.

Kota weaver women were much in demand in marriage, according to the study, and traditional weavers were now back in business after more than a decade of migration. The study found that Kota Doria was being sourced out through top designers and big market chains like Fab India.

Weavers said they did not have enough manpower to meet the demand as Kota Doria was now being used for not just saris but all kinds of clothes, mostly in jari and tussar, and priced between Rs 7,000 and 40,000.

A perusal of the list of the 106-odd products that have made it through the Chennai GI registry under the industry ministry shows that only a handful are from northern states. Most products are from the south and some are from Orissa, reflecting that these states have been proactively pursuing the GI registration of their products.

UNCTAD feels that the northern states are not aware of the benefits and are not really pushing the matter. So even the famous Kashmiri carpets can hope to get a push through GI.

UNCTAD this week brought together several producers of GI products on a platform. It is also setting up a website for e-marketing of many of the products it will get GI-registered. If the industry ministry adds its mite, maybe the benefits of the GI law could help more producers and their goods, besides protecting several traditional skills.