Tagged – and tied – to geography

Gaurav Sikka & Manisha Kushwaha

Most of us have heard of Darjeeling tea, Banarasi saree, and Lucknow chikankari. As the names of these products indicate, they belong to a specific geographical region and have the attributes and characteristics particular to these regions. This is known as Geographical Indication (GI), a certification of the product from a certain region which is unique in its own way.

Understanding Geographical Indication
The term ‘geographical indication’ is a relatively new concept introduced by the Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) of the World Trade Organization (WTO) in 1994. The concept has its origin in 19th century Europe and has considerably evolved since then. The practice of using other closely related frameworks existed even in pre-industrial times. Frameworks such as ‘appellations of origin’, ‘indications of source’, ‘designations of origin’ and ‘protected geographical indications’ used names of places and distinctive signs for a variety of products as ‘indications of geographical origin’ (IGO). IGO is an umbrella term used to denote the aforementioned words which specify that a product has a particular geographical origin. GIs are the collective rights owned by the community of a particular geographical region.

TRIPS defines a GI as any indication that identifies a product as originating from a particular place, where a given quality, reputation or other characteristics of the product are essentially attributable to its geographical origin. GIs serve to recognize the essential roles played by geographic and climatic factors and/or human know-how in the quality of certain products.

The Indian GI Act (1999) defines GI as, “‘geographical indication’, in relation to goods, and this means an indication which identifies such goods as agricultural goods, natural goods or manufactured goods as originating, or manufactured in the territory of a country, or a region or locality in that territory, where a given quality, reputation or other characteristic(s) of such goods is essentially attributable to its geographical origin and in case where such goods are manufactured goods, one of the activities of either the production or of processing or preparation of the goods concerned takes place in such territory, region or locality, as the case may be.”

The need for GIs
GIs help in dealing with the problem of information asymmetry in the market between buyers and sellers. The consumer’s lack of information about the quality and genuineness of a product leads to them being exploited, paying more for the product. The producers, on the other hand, suffer loss due to unfair competition with fake products. Thus, GI acts as a signalling device that helps the producers to differentiate original products from competing fake products in the market and enables them to build a reputation and goodwill around their products. This could often fetch a premium price, benefiting both the producer and the consumer. Effective implementation of the GI Act will guard the rights of the producers against fake, cheap, and low quality products.

GIs can even prove to be powerful instruments which yield certain socio- economic benefits. They can be a tool to preserve traditional knowledge of the community involved. Also, they are often cited as tools that have the potential to contribute to rural development. This is because the rural communities produce many traditional products based on their local know-how. Studies have revealed that consumers are ready to pay higher prices for original traditional products. Ultimately, this will increase the income of the rural producers and achieve rural poverty alleviation.

Geographical Indication: The Indian scene
India being a land of rich tradition and culture has many products that could qualify as GIs. However, the initiatives to exploit this potential began only recently when the country established a sui generis system of GI protection. This is a special form of protection regime which is tailored to protect traditional knowledge and associated natural resources. This led to the enactment of The Geographical Indications of Goods (Registration & Protection) Act, 1999 (GI Act), coupled with the Geographical Indications of Goods (Registration and Protection) Rules, 2002 (GI Rules).

The GI Act came into force from 15 September 2003 in compliance with India’s obligations under TRIPS. Under the purview of this Act, the Government of India has established the Geographical Indications Registry with all India jurisdiction in Chennai to register the GIs. The GI Act is being administered by the Controller General of Patents, Designs and Trade Marks who is also the Registrar of Geographical Indications.

On the domestic front, India has made considerable strides towards ensuring a protective cover for its rich heritage of traditional products under the GI Act. By the end of the year 2016, 272 GIs of Indian origin were registered in India. These include diverse categories of products, such as Darjeeling tea, ‘Malabar pepper’, ‘Pochampally Ikat’ (textiles), ‘Madhubani paintings’, ‘Bastar wooden craft’ (handicraft), etc. In fact, Darjeeling Tea was the first product to be registered under GI in India.

However, it should be noted that all geographical indications cannot be registered. A GI cannot be registered if:

• Its use can deceive or cause confusion among users or be contrary to any law;
• It is a scandalous or obscene matter or can hurt religious sentiments of any section of the citizens of India;
• It is a generic name;
• It is no longer protected or has fallen into disuse in the country of origin;
• It is falsely represented by persons claiming that goods originate in another territory, region, or locality.

How can be derive greater benefit from GIs

• Proper marketing, promotion, and branding of GI products is important not only to ensure their success but also for quality assurance of the product to consumers and socio-economic benefit to its producers. This should be done both in Indian and international market to build a reputation especially for GIs which do not have an established image.
• To give the producer of a GI product the maximum benefit, the right to use the registered GIs must be confined to the actual producers from the identified geographical area and only with their permission, can the traders and others involved in the trade use the GIs.
• Monitoring of foreign markets can be done to identify any misuse of the GI tag and prevent it and safeguard the benefits.
• Last but not the least, legal protection to GIs is also very important through effective implementation of the laws which not only will guarantee the genuineness of the products but also combat any kind of infringement and counterfeiting.

References

• Bagade, Shashikant B, and Deven B Metha. “Geographical Indications in India: Hitherto and Challenges.” Research Journal of Pharmaceutical, Biological and Chemical Sciences, 2014.
• Das, Kasturi. “Protection of Geographical Indications: An Overview of Select Issues with Particular Reference to India.” Centre for Trade and Development, New Delhi, 2007.
• Das, Kasturi. “Socio-economic Implications of Protecting Geographical Indications in India.” Centre for WTO Studies, New Delhi, 2009.
• Gautam, Kumar, and Nupur Bahl. “Geographical Indications of India: Socio- Economic and Development Issues.” All India Artisans and Craftworkers Welfare Association, New Delhi, 2010.
• Nanda, Nitya. “Briefi ng Paper, The Protection of Geographical Indications in India: Issues and Challenges .” The Energy and Resources Institute, New Delhi, 2013.
• “Registered GIs.” Geographical Indications Registry. http://www.ipindia.nic.in/writereaddata/Portal/Images/pdf/Registered_GI_Dec2016.pdf (accessed December 18, 2016).

Understanding the concept of GI

As teachers, one of the most important things we want in our students is that they have clarity about the topic we teach them. It is not only important for them to understand the topic but they must also be able to feed their ideas and thoughts which will help develop critical thinking.

So, for a better understanding of Geographical Indications, one can use fun and enjoyable methods, which will not only be interesting but will also make the learning procedure easier. For this, the first and the foremost task of the teacher is to explain the concept of GIs, i.e., the exact concept as a lot of products are there which have a geographical link to a certain place but they might not have the GI tag.

An interactive classroom activity might be: The teacher can ask the students to do a little homework on making and collecting a list of products (including not just handicrafts but also agricultural products, food items, etc.) which belongs to a particular region or state. In an interactive session in the classroom, these products can be shown and identified by their geographical location. This can be followed by a map pointing activity for the products.

To better facilitate the understanding the concept of GIs, audio-visual aids can be used. Like a short documentary on Banarasi saree workers which may show how after getting the GI tags, their business has improved, not only benefiting both the owners and the workers but creating a buzz in the international market too.

These aids will not only familiarize the kids with certain cities and regions of India but will also enhance their knowledge about the diverse variety of indigenous products which are produced in the country and their importance.

Gaurav Sikka is a faculty at Department of Geography, Aditi Mahavidyalaya, University of Delhi. He is also pursuing PhD in geography from the Delhi School of Economics, University of Delhi. He has presented papers at International conferences in India and abroad. He can be reached at gaurav_sikkaa@yahoo.co.in.

Manisha Kushwaha is pursuing her PhD at Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, Mohali (Punjab).