UNTAPPED POTENTIAL

India's two-decade journey with Geographical Indication tags has shown limited outcome and there is an urgent need to simplify the registration processes to ensure that the protection mechanism helps producer communities

- MOHIT SHARMA

GEOGRAPHICAL INDICATION (GI) is a form of certification that recognises unique products based on their origin, which is often attributed to agro-climatic variations and traditional cultivation practices. This certification is also extended to non-agricultural products, such as handicrafts, based on human skills, materials and resources available in certain areas that make the product unique. Consumers prefer genuine products, and GI provides the assurance of authenticity while also promoting community development.

Trade reforms, legal protection and consumer acceptance are necessary to commercialise local products and gain premium prices in domestic and international markets. Empirical evidence from many developing and developed countries shows that GI helps economic enhancement at the producer’s level. But this is not true to the same extent in India, perhaps due to flaws in the GI registration system and market inefficiencies. Therefore, India’s journey of over two decades—the Geographical Indications of Goods (Registration and Protection) Rules was enacted in 1999—with GI has had limited outcomes and requires more popularisation to achieve its full economic potential. This article seeks to provide a perspective on the efforts and attention towards GI from national and international lenses and draw policymakers’ attention to this issue.

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