Is India sub-leveraging the advantages of GI tagging?

While the craze for registration of GIs has gained momentum over the past few years, there really has been no strategy for using the tag to commercial advantage

Earlier this month, the Goan caju (cashew kernel) successfully obtained a Geographical Indication (GI) tag. Goa’s applications for GI recognition for Bebinca, Malcorada mango, seven-ridge okra,  Agassaim    brinjal, Harmal chilli and Khola chilli are still pending.

According to the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO), a GI tag is a sign used on products that have a specific geographical origin and possess qualities or a reputation that is due to that origin. But is the award of the GI tag for the Goan caju such a big deal? I am not so sure.

The most famous example of GI-tagging in the world is, of course, Champagne, the sparkling wine from that particular district of France. GI tags have for long been used globally as indicators or appellations of origin in food law. They authenticate and symbolise an intellectual property right of a label owned collectively by all producers in a region. The law surrounding GIs protects producers and their reputations and reassures consumers that a product of the origin stated on the label is authentic.

In 2018, there was a battle royale between Ratnagiri and Sindhudurg over which district would lay claim to be the real home of the Hapus (also called the Alphonso) mango. A truce was finally called, and both of them agreed to jointly apply for the Alphonso GI tag. Authentic Hapus mangoes are now GI-tagged in the entire Konkan belt, right from Palghar in the north to Sindhudurg in southern Maharashtra. The Konkan region has almost 110,000 hectares under Alphonso orchards and produces mangoes worth Rs 30 billion annually, over 50 per cent of which are exported. The GI-tagging for the Alphonso mango has surely helped protect its exclusivity and distinctiveness. But there has been no apparent organised effort — governmental or institutional — to go beyond.

The missionary zeal with which the GI-appellation of Champagne is protected and promoted makes the bubbly elite and expensive. French champagne makers constantly strive for excellence. This devotion to quality control forms the deep-rooted foundation for the designation of champagne as an appellation of origin, as opposed to a mere indication of source.

India’s real experience with GI-tagging started in the 1990s with the battle for Basmati rice. The aromatic rice from northern India was being challenged for its name and exclusivity by Pakistan on one side, and by a US brand called Kasmati on the other. It took many years of legal battles and proactive lobbying for India to protect Basmati from being encroached upon, and compromised. But once the patent was duly established and acknowledged, India, for the most part, forgot about it. There has been no noticeable effort in the past 30 years to grow and embellish the aura around Basmati as the preferred aromatic long-grain rice from the Indian Punjab. No marketing. No branding. No advertising. No trade promotions. No effort whatsoever to create and enhance value.

Much the same fate seems to await the Goan caju. A lot of time, energy and money have been expended in the past on obtaining GI protection for the likes of Darjeeling tea, Pochampally ikat, Mysore silk, Kota doria, Kullu shawls, Madhubani paintings, Muga Assam silk, Bastar dhokra, Goan feni, Bikaneri bhujia, Paithani sarees, Firozabad glass, Khurja pottery, Patan patola, Banaras brocades and even the Banglar rasogolla. Even the holy Tirupati laddoo enjoys a GI-tag. But frankly, most of this tagging, especially for products like Navara rice, Coimbatore wet grinder, Allahabad surkha guava,  Dharwad pedha, Eathomozhy tall coconut, Khirsapati (Himsagar) mango, Puneri pagadi, and such has achieved little or no purpose.

To figure out what best to do with a GI tag, we in India need to take a leaf from Juan Valdez, a fictional character who has appeared in advertisements for the National Federation of Coffee Growers of Colombia since 1958, representing a Colombian coffee farmer. He typically appears with his mule Conchita, carrying sacks of harvested coffee beans. He has become an icon for Colombia as well as coffee in general. Valdez was first created by Doyle Dane Bernbach (DDB), the ad agency, with the goal of distinguishing 100 per cent Colombian coffee from coffee blended with beans from other countries. Today Juan Valdez is a global icon and the Colombian coffee he sells is an undisputed world leader.

Unfortunately, in India, while the craze for registration of GIs has gained momentum over the past few years, there really has been no strategy for using the GI to commercial advantage, especially in global markets. The likes of Colombian coffee, Havana cigars, Champagne, Florida orange juice, Idaho potatoes, Tennessee whiskey, Vermouth de Chambéry and others have spent large sums of money in organised marketing and value creation to grow the exclusivity and premiumness attached to their products. All of these now enjoy global recognition and awareness, and are the preferred products/brands in their domains. Can Goan caju do that? . 

The writer is chairman of Rediffusion