Pakistan has received the Geographical Indicator (GI) tag for its Basmati rice, paving the way for creating a local registry for this particular strain of rice and making a case in the world markets for its protection as a Pakistani product.
The Rice Exporters Association of Pakistan (REAP) announced that Pakistan has registered Basmati Rice as Geographical Indication (GI) on Tuesday.
Commerce Adviser Abdul Razak Dawood is a series of tweets, announced, “I am glad to inform that Pakistan has registered Basmati Rice as Geographical Indication (GI) under Geographical Indications Act 2020. Under this Act, a GI registry has been formed which will register GIs and maintain the basic record of proprietors & authorised users of GI.”
He further posted, “This will provide protection of our products against misuse or imitation & hence will guarantee that their share in int’l market is protected. I encourage you to send your suggestions of products that can be registered as GIs to Intellectual Property Organization of Pakistan.”
Read more: Pakistan notifies GI rules to protect domestic products in international market
The Rice Exporters Association of Pakistan (Reap) said that the public and private sector need to cooperate for the registration of basmati as a Geographical Indicator in the country.
The Trade and Development Authority of Pakistan (TDAP) was designated as a registrant of Basmati by the federal government. TDAP made an application to register Basmati to Intellectual Property Organisation (IPO). IPO sought assistance in this regard, from Rice Research Institute Kala Shah Kaku and Reap.
Moreover, Pakistan’s rice exporters said that India currently has a larger Basmati rice share of around 65% in the EU whereas Pakistan has a 35% share in the European market.
Pakistan’s total rice exports in 2020 stood at $2.2 billion. GI Committee Convener Sameeullah Naeem said, “This is the first Pakistani product which has been registered under the GI tag and we can now claim and market our products in global markets,” Naeem said.
“We are now hopeful that we can increase the reach of local Basmati in export markets and believe that the government will create more opportunities to enhance our export revenue from rice,” he added.
