Madhya Pradesh government’s struggle to join the elite ‘basmati’ league has failed once again
The Madras high court has dismissed the state’s plea seeking geographical indication (GI) tag for basmati rice grown in areas falling under the state.
The court said that Two GI certificates of registration for a same produce cannot be issued.
Background
In May 2010, GI status was given to basmati grown only in Punjab, Haryana, Delhi, Himachal Pradesh, Uttrakhand and parts of western Uttar Pradesh and Jammu & Kashmir.
But Madhya Pradesh demanded that its 13 districts be recognised as traditional Basmati growing regions.
Geographical Indications are covered as a component of intellectual property rights (IPRs) under the Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property.
GI is also governed by the World Trade Organisation’s (WTO’s) Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS).
In India, Geographical Indications registration is administered by the Geographical Indications of Goods (Registration and Protection) Act, 1999 which came into force with effect from September 2003.
The first product in India to be accorded with GI tag was Darjeeling tea in the year 2004-05.