Govt Sets Up Inter-Ministerial Panel Set Up

An inter-ministerial technical committee has been formed by the government to work out details and modalities of tackling the issue of patent given by the US for basmati rice.

The committee, involving legal experts, would prepare all details to counter the patent in best national interest, an official press release said here yesterday.

The technical committee was formed after an inter-ministerial meeting involving departments of agriculture, industry and commerce besides the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) and the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) yesterday. The committee would make an all out effort to get the patent, issued by the US patent office in September last to Ricetec Inc Co, revoked.

 

The meeting also felt that the patent was extremely broad-based and would have serious repercussions on research, development and marketing of basmati.

In fact, it was observed that there is hardly any novelty which is an essential element for granting an utility patent, an official release said. The setting up of the panel follows the governments statement that it would protect the interest of the growers and trade fully.