July 28, 2020
India alone stands in the global platform as the only producer of premium Basmati rice. Shares with no other country other than 18 districts of Pakistan can call any of its produced rice as ‘Basmati’.
Madhya Pradesh (MP) govt is building pressure on the central govt to get Geographical Indication (GI) tag for Basmati rice produced in 13 districts of MP. The All India Rice Exporters’ Association (AIREA) has appealed to the government to preserve and safeguard the integrity of one of the most cherished national produce of India called ‘Basmati rice’.
AIREA argues that if MP is included in the GI list of Basmati crop then it will not only harm the reputation of Indian Basmati as a whole, but also the national interest.
According to the APEDA, GI tag is given to a product, which natural or a manufactured product, originating from a specific geographical area due to which it possesses unique characteristics and qualities. GI tag is basically an assurance that the product is coming from that specific area. It’s kind of trademark in the international market.
In May 2010, APEDA, a statutory body under the Ministry of Commerce, got this certification for the region located in Indo-Gangetic Plains (IGP) below the Himalayan foothills, spread across seven states from Himachal Pradesh, J&K, Punjab, Haryana, Uttarakhand, Western UP (26 districts) and Delhi.
According to APEDA, the origin and reputation of Basmati rice as a ‘long grain, aromatic rice’ from the IGP is found in tradition, folklore, scientific and culinary literature and political and historical records. They said it took hundreds of years for Basmati producing state to become famous e.g. Dehraduni Basmati, Amritsar Basmati and Tarawari basmati. All of these brands have not become popular in one day as they are producing Basmati for hundreds of years.
The reason why Madhya Pradesh want its rice to be included under the GI list is MP falls in the Madhya Bharat Pathar and started cultivating varieties of Basmati rice only around the middle of the first decade of this century. MP claims that its Basmati rice possesses the same characteristics and qualities as that of the Basmati rice grown in the IGP. The state also claims that nearly 80,000 farmers of the state are growing Basmati in 13 districts and exporting worth Rs. 3,000 crore on annual basis.
AIREA said that MP cannot be included in GI Tag because under WTO’s TRIPs (Trade-Related aspects of Intellectual Property rights) agreement, physical attributes are not enough for a product to earn GI tag and that reputation in linked with the geographical region is essential and authoritative. As per GI of Goods (Registration & Protection) Act in 2003, ‘reputation’ to a geographical area is central to the recognition of a GI product and only seven states have that credit. Even if the rice grown in MP has all the required characteristics of being GI or maybe even better than Basmati rice grown in the traditional growing areas, the same would not still entitle such rice to be qualified to get Basmati rice GI claim. Basmati and any rice which is grown outside the designated area cannot be called Basmati.
What efforts are being undertaken by the MP to grab the GI tag?
Striving hard to get the GI tag, MP had put up an appeal in Madras High Court where its plea was turned down February this year. Earlier too in 2016, Intellectual Properties Appellate Board (IPBA) in Chennai had given the decision in favour of the APEDA, which is not in favour of including MP in the GI list. Despite the rejections, MP has been repeatedly whisking and raising an agitated talks through political and bureaucratic channels. Many vendors and traders from MP are selling the rice from MP using the IGP images on their packages – though MP is far away down south of the IGP, said AIREA.
The inclusion of MP in the GI list will definitely harm India and its farmers and the interests of seven states which grow Basmati with GI tag. Exporters say that with the inclusion of MP, the ramifications will be disastrous. It had been a tough battle for the country to protect Basmati name from the encroachment of other nations where all had come out on international market claiming their own descriptions of Basmati rice. It was only the GI tag that has protected India’s Basmati, because it has been grown from time immemorial in the IGP area of India and 18 districts of Pakistan’s Punjab, said Nathi Ram Gupta, President, AIREA, adding that this indisputable fact alone has enabled India to win the cases across globe.
“If MP is allowed to be included, it will nullify APEDA’s efforts made earlier to secure and protect Indian Basmati since 1995 by taking up over a 1,000 legal actions in nearly 50 countries, spread across all the continents. APEDA has spent over Rs 200/300 crores in promoting Basmati rice, defending its GI status and shaping it into a global brand,” said Vijay Setia, the former President AIREA.
“The day we give a green signal to MP, Pakistan will grab the opportunity to start sowing Basmati all across the country. China will be equally benefitted. Not to talk about all those 50 and more nations who had been unequivocally restricted from calling any of their aromatic rice’s with even “Basmati-like” names,” said senior officials at APEDA.“If Basmati loses its premium tag it will deprive over 20 lakh farmers of seven states from the economic premium of growing this unique product. So, the commercial considerations cannot, therefore, be allowed to be sacrificed at the altar of expanding the area of GI,” said a senior APEDA official.