India is unlikely to find it easy clinching registration of geographical indication (GI) for basmati rice jointly with Pakistan, even if the process were to be speeded up.
Irked over a type of basmati called Super Basmati being exported by India to the EU, Pakistan’s Basmati Growers’ Association, has reportedly sought permission from Pakistan’s commerce minister Humayun Akhtar Khan to file a separate petition in New Delhi challenging the relevant notification of the Indian commerce department. That notification was issued on May 24, 2006 and approves the export of the Super basmati from India.
The alleged loss to Pakistani exports is $300-$500 million as a result of Indian traders exporting the Super variety. In December 2005, the Pakistani BGA applied for GI registration of Basmati to the trade mark registrar at Karachi.
However, according to reports in the Pakistani media, Rice Exporters’ Association of Pakistan opposed this, making India hopeful of a joint Indo-Pak registration of GI. In May, Commerce minister Kamal Nath asked Pakistan to speed up the process of joint filing for a GI for basmati.
He then wrote to the Pakistan government, seeking information from the neighbouring country on the locations to register the GI application, stating that India had already chosen members of the joint taskforce, while Pakistan had yet to do that. Pakistan has not enacted a legislation on GI, he pointed out.
The implication of Mr Nath’s letter was that Pakistan was dragging its feet on the issue because its basmati exports world-wide had taken a drubbing from India, particularly in the EU, due to its superior quality.
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