Why a GI tag and how it can be the means to better the lives of our farmers - Prof Archie D'Souza

Why a GI tag and how it can be the means to better the lives of our farmers

Prof Archie D'Souza

The direction to which our policy-makers, in the name of free-trade and globalisation, have been taking our nation will result in 80% of consumer and agricultural products being made in China. This despite the Make in India slogan being oft repeated by the current government. The ruling party of the day has promised several things including a shift to production of major goods to India, a crore jobs a year and doubling of farmers' incomes by 2022. None of these goals are even near being seen to be achieved. However, these are doable goals. It is possible to, with a reasonable period of time, double the incomes of farmers and increase the number of jobs created many-fold.

India is predominantly an agrarian economy. After agriculture, which employs over 50% of the workforce and accounts for close to 20% of the country's GDP, textiles, which includes fabrics and readymade garments, and food products are the largest employers, sector-wise. Jewellery and handicraft making are other big sources of employment. These will continue to be the biggest job-creators in the foreseeable future. But the Chinese invasion will continue.

So, how do we counter the Chinese invasion, increase employment and improve the lot of our farmers? Farmers, artisans and daily-wage-earners have been the worst hit since globalisation started. While I am not condemning the WTO regime outright and do believe that the advantages of merging our economy with the rest of the world has more advantages that drawbacks, it hasn't been a big boon to the urban and rural poor. The small segments of the economy, like the IT and BPO sectors for instance, that have benefited from this boom which is the result of globalisation, have only created a false illusion of wealth and jobs in the country. MSMEs and farmers form the bottom of the pyramid, as do traditional artisans and craftsmen. These sections have been worst hit by the Chinese on slot. The number of jobs lost in the last five years far exceeds the number of jobs create and demonetisation is not the only reason for these losses. The Make-in-India movement has hardly taken off.

The GI tag is a means to stop the Chinese invasion and also to create millions of jobs. According to the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO), a geographical indication is a sign used on goods that have a specific geographic origin and possess qualities or a reputation due to their place of origin. A GI is a perpetual intellectual property (IP) which is owned by farmers, artisans or weavers of a region, not by a company, industry or individual. To get the tag, the GI product needs to originate from a particular, defined geography and needs to possess unique, defining characteristics that differentiate the same from products of other regions. These distinguishing features could be nutrients, taste, texture, look, shape, etc.

GI also means an indication which identifies certain agricultural, natural or manufactured goods originating or manufactured in the territory of a country, or a region or locality in that territory, where a given quality, reputation or other characteristics of such goods are essentially attributable to its geographical origin. By getting a GI tag for a product, a registered user is able to get protection from any unauthorised entity or individual using the same tag. It helps in boosting exports and, thus, ensures economic prosperity for the registered users. Among the common examples of GI are Mysore Silk, Mysore Sandalwood Powder, Channapatna Toys, Dargeeling Tea and Coorg Green Cardamom. The Patent Information Centre (PIC), run by the Government run Karnataka State Council for Science and Technology, situated in the Indian Institute of Science campus at Bangalore can help those who wish to register. The PIC is supported by the Departments of Science and Technology of both, the Governments of India and Karnataka. Its website is www.kscst.org.in.

Currently around 700 GI tags have been granted to Indian products. Let us look at how some of these products have benefitted:

• Dargeeling tea has seen its domestic price rise five-fold.
• Basmati rice and Tanjavur paintings have had their prices doubled.

What's more important, is that jobs based on these products have increased dramatically. Today, the number of farmers cultivating the Nagpur Santra (Orange) and its acreage have doubled between 2013 and 2018. These statistics indicate that farming these products is becoming profitable and migration to rural areas is increasing. One of the biggest advantages of GI tagging is the tremendous export potential it brings in. This has helped in improving the livelihoods of farmers, artisans, weavers, etc. substantially. We have a rich heritage of unique art, climatic conditions, culture and heritage. This results in lakhs of products that can qualify for GI tags. Potentially, 20 to 30 crores of jobs can be created. Let us see how. Before that let us look at a few other features of what GI stands for, plus why and how they are protected. Another very good example is the Erode turmeric. India is the largest producer of turmeric in the world, with 80% of it grown here. This distinctive variant of the yellow spice has a thin stem and grown in the district of Tamil Nadu bearing the same name.

As the term suggests, an appellation of origin is a special kind of geographical indication used on products that have a specific quality exclusively or essentially due to the geographical environment in which the products originate. These appellations are protected by the Lisbon Agreement for the Protection of Appellations of Origin and Their International Registration. Examples of these are, Bordeaux for wine produced in the region of the same name in France, Parma Ham for ham produced in the Parma reghion of Italy and Habana for tobacco grown in the Havana region of Cuba.

We shall now look at the need for protection of GI tags. In the early 90s, an American firm registered a trademark called Texmathi for Basmati rice grown in the US state of Texas. A strong protest by India and Pakistan led to the cancellation of the trademark. Basmati rice is indigenous to the Punjab region of undivided India and only rice grown in this region may carry this tag. Consumers of a product with a GI tag associate it with the origin and quality of the product. Scotch whiskey may only be produced in Scotland and Champagne in a particular part of France. Many such products have acquired reputations carry a huge value. If not adequately protected they may be misrepresented by commercial operators.

Darjeeling Tea, for instance, has to be grown in the tea gardens of Darjeeling. False use of this label by unauthorised parties for tea that is not grown there is illegal and detrimental to the consumer and legitimate producer. While the consumer is deceived into believing that they are buying the genuine product, the latter is deprive of valuable business. Remember, one associates the label with specific qualities and characteristics, with a specific taste and texture. The producers are likely to suffer a damage to their reputation.

We shall now look at the difference between GI and trademark. Let us first look at what a trademark is. It is a sign used by an organisation or business to distinguish its goods and services to those offered by others. By registering a trademark, the owner gets the right to prevent others from using it. On the other hand GI tags guarantee to consumers that a product originated in a certain place, with certain unique characteristics that are due to the place of production. The tag may be used by all makers of the product that share certain qualities in the place designated by a geographical indication.

Before we look at how GIs are protected, we need to look at what is known as generic geographic indication. It could be that the name of a place is used to designate a particular type of product rather than to indicate its place of origin. For example Andra biryani is a term used for a particular type of biryani that's available almost throughout India. In such a case, the term no longer functions as a geographical indication. Another example is Djon mustard, a kind of mustard that originated in the French town of Djon. Over time it has come to denote a certain type of mustard and it grows in several places. So, Hyderabadi biryani and Djon mustard are now generic rather than geographic, referring to certain types of products.

So, we now come to a very important aspect of our discussion, how GIs are protected and the role the WIPO plays in it. One should note that geographical indications are protected in accordance with national laws of respective sovereign States. There could be a wide range of such laws. For example, laws exist to prevent unfair competition, to protect consumers, for the protection of certification marks. There may even exist laws for the protection of geographical indications or appellations of origin. A user of the tag must be registered with the competent national authority to be eligible to use it. Unauthorised parties may not use geographical indications. Such use is likely to mislead the public into thinking that from a particular place. A great deal of international and domestic jurisprudence is available on the subject.

The WIPO administers a number of international agreements that deal partly or entirely with protection of geographical indications. The Paris Convention and Lisbon Agreement are two such treaties which WIPO Member States need to adhere to. The WIPO offers its Member States and other interested parties the opportunities to explore new ways to enhance the international protection of geographical indications.

Having seen the mechanisms of GIs, let us now look at how they create value and help generate employment. The main beauty about it is that it creates job opportunities with little use of additional resources, funding or initiatives. Recently, the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) has created a new logo with a very catchy tagline – Invaluable Treasures of Incredible India. The creation of this logo has led to a great deal of value enhancement. While it has shown the intent of the government to promote Indian products across the globe, the DIPP logo has led to a great deal of brand value enhancement.

We're living in an era where brand value draws customers and increases sales. What better way to promote our rich heritage that the GI tag, with its catchy logo and tagline? It has resulted in empowering many communities, especially in rural and tribal areas. The community leaders or representatives need to be able to generate technical data on the proof of existence of the product, gather evidence of its uniqueness, document its history, etc. NGOs exist that will help in the process.

It is a myth that farmers are uneducated and unaware about the knowledge of the ageold traditions. NGOs and voluntary bodies could members of the communities to liaise with the government departments that are involved in the registration process.