The IPAB cleared the decks for issuing GI tag to Indian Basmati rice.
A GI is a place name used to identify the origin and quality, reputation or other characteristics of products.
Article 22 of TRIPS Agreement says unless a GI indication is protected in the country of its origin, there is no obligation under the Agreement for other countries to extend reciprocal protection.
Some popular registered GIs in India:
Darjeeling Tea, Mysore Silk, Mysore Pak, Tanjavur Veena, Tirupati Laddoo
Seven years after an application was made to get the ‘Geographical Indication’ tag for Indian basmati rice grown in some States, the Intellectual Property Appellate Board (IPAB) on Friday cleared the decks for issuing the tag.
The application has been mired in litigation after farmers and exporters and Madhya Pradesh wanted to be included in the list of States approved by the Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA), the statutory body responsible for export promotion and development of certain scheduled products.
Basmati rice cultivated in the Indo-Gangetic Plains on the foothills of the Himalayas, covering areas of the rice grown in Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Delhi, Uttarakhand, Western U.P. and two districts of Jammu and Kathua, will now be issued the GI tag.
India is the world’s leading producer and exporter of basmati rice, according to APEDA. India exports a major quantity of basmati rice to Saudi Arabia, Iran, United Arab Emirates, Iraq and Kuwait.