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Bettering our GI Act

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November 27, 2017

What is the issue?

  • The existing law for Geographical Indications in India leans too heavily on documentary proof.
  • This is a major huddle for many traditional products from getting the GI Tag.

What is the “Geographical Indication”?

  • Geographical Indications (GIs) are recognitions for traditionally produced products that are specific to a region.
  • It intends to link the quality of a product to the territory from where the it originates from.
  • GIs support local production and are an important economic tool for the uplift of rural and tribal communities.
  • Unlike other Intellectual Property Rights (IPRs) which guarantee the protection of individual interest, GI is a collective right.
  • If their products qualify, producers can use the collective GI mark while commercially exploiting their products.

What are the shortcomings in the Indian GI Act?

  • India executed a law on GI in 1999 as per the WTO’s “Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights -TRIPS” guidelines.
  • TRIPS only prescribes a minimum standard and there is no insistence on a particular framework for the grant of a GI Tag.
  • Against this backdrop, proof of origin is a mandatory criterion for registering GIs in India – a provision borrowed from the EU’s act.
  • While a historic proof in itself is a good safeguard, the Indian Act also stresses on documentary evidence for the same.
  • Documented evidence would indeed be foolproof in ensuring the link between the product and territory.
  • But in India, where oral history has had far wider convention over written history, this provision will prove to be a formidable hurdle.
  • Assam Example - Assam has been exploring its natural, agricultural and traditional products as potential GI material.
  • But a stumbling block has been the difficulty in gathering documentary evidence as proof of origin.
  • The recent product in focus has been “Judima”, a traditional rice wine made by the Dimasa tribe of Dima Hasao.
  • For most products, especially those of tribal communities, the lack of documentary evidence is bound to be a recurrent problem.

What is the way forward?

  • In a particular instance, the GI Registry considered studying its evolution to establish proof of origin.
  • But as the existing law insists on documentary proof, it is difficult to make authorities adopt similar stands for other products.
  • Hence, India should consider amending the current law to enable easier GI registration and enhance the marketability of our rich tradition.

 

Source: The Hindu 

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