The Geographical
Indication Act, 1999 in India has been instrumental in the extension of GI
status to many goods so far. The Central Government has established the
Geographical Indications Registry with all India jurisdictions, at Chennai,
where right-holders can register their geographical indications. Unlike TRIPS,
the Act does not restrict its special protection to wines and spirits alone.
The Central Government has the discretion to decide which products should be
accorded higher levels of protection. This approach
has deliberately been taken by the drafters of the Act with the aim of
providing stringent protection as guaranteed under the TRIPS Agreement to
geographical indications of Indian origin. However, other WTO members are not
obligated to ensure Article 23-type protection to all Indian geographical
indications, thereby leaving room for their misappropriation in the international
arena.
India’s
Geographical Indications of Goods
(Registration and Protection) Act, 1999, has been in effect since September
2003. To date, there are 236 geographical indications registered in India. The
Geographical Indication Registry conducts regular awareness-creation workshops
in various parts of India to educate stakeholders about the availability of such
protection for the various geographical indications in relevant regions.
As a
developing country, India is in the nascent stages of geographical indication
protection, and because of this the government plays a more active role in the
protection process. With the provisions of the GI Act permitting government
bodies to become applicants, it is easier for the Indian government to support
producers of the indications by protecting the indications and helping
producers gain market access
for their goods.
Since
the first Indian geographical indication registration in 2004, 236 geographical
indications have been registered with the GI Registry of India. Of these, more
than half (64%) are handicrafts, more than one fourth (26%) are agricultural
products, and the remaining are food and manufacturing products.
The
trend of GI registration has been mostly upward with the maximum number of
products registered in the year 2008 – 2009. While handicrafts have been the
most registered GIs consistently, agricultural and manufactured products are
increasingly being protected under the Act over the past few years. Food
products, a more recent addition in the registered GI basket of India, was
first granted protection in 2008 – 2009 when Dharwad Pedha from Karnataka was
granted the status of a registered GI product. The recent increase in
manufactured products being registered as a geographical indication can be
partially attributed to more foreign products being registered at the Indian GI
Registry.
Since 2009, six foreign products
have been registered as geographical indications within the territory of India.
These are Champagne and Cognac from France, Scotch Whiskey from the United
Kingdom, Napa Valley wines from the United States of America, Douro wine from
Portugal, Peruvian Pisco from Peru and Prosciutto di Parma from Italy.
- Monidipa Sengupta
