Pakistan is going to register Himalayan pink salt, extracted from the Salt Range which extends along the south of the Potohar Plateau and the north of the Jhelum River — as Geographical Indications (GI).
On Thursday, the Ministry of Commerce announced that it will register Himalayan pink salt. The decision in this regard was taken in a meeting with the Intellectual Property Organization (IPO) Pakistan and was supervised by the Commerce Adviser Razak Dawood. Mujeeb Ahmed Khan, IPO Chairman Mujeeb Ahmed Khan was also present at the meeting.
As per the announced official statement, this move is aimed to limit the unauthorized use of the country’s GI by other countries. “We decided that, after registration of rice, pink salt from the Salt Range Mountains of Pakistan will be registered as GI,” the adviser said, he added that this step will reassure and motivate our producers to grow their business at a global level.
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On the other hand, the registrant for this would be designated with the approval of the Cabinet. Likewise, a list of other products on a priority basis will be followed. “We urge our business community to identify and inform IPO of other products that can be registered as GI in order to protect them for realizing their export potential,” Mr. Dawood further said.
Moreover, Razak Dawood expressed his satisfaction towards the progress and talked about the importance of GI registration for various products. GI products’ registration will serve as a potential economic tool in order to promote and enhance national and international trade of the country.
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The adviser added that commerce ministry will make more efforts than before, for the registration of potential products as GI on a priority basis.
However, Pakistan received the GI tag for its Basmati in January, paving the way to create a local registry for the specific strain of rice and making a case in the global market.
