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GI (geographical indication) tag protection
What it is
A registered mark reserving a product name to producers in a defined geography, protected under the Geographical Indications of Goods Act, 1999. Basmati holds Indian GI registration covering seven states in the Indo-Gangetic plain
Unlike a trademark it is owned collectively rather than by a firm, so it protects a region's producers as a group and cannot be bought or transferred
Impact on industries
- Converts a commodity into a defensible category - the GI is why basmati commands a premium over long-grain rice that no processor could establish alone
- Underpins export pricing and gives legal recourse against misdescribed product in destination markets, particularly the EU
- Protection is contested - Pakistan has opposed India's EU application on shared-heritage grounds, and the dispute is entangled with India-EU FTA talks
- The benefit is collective, lifting every registered producer equally - competitive edge still has to come from brand and quality