Pakistan Gets GI Tag For Basmati Rice – Free PDF Download

• On 27^th January, 2021, Pakistan secured the GI tag for its Basmati rice.
• Experts on Basmati rice and patents have said that this would not be a worry for India’s exports.
• Both Pakistan and India had been exporting basmati to the EU without a GI tag from the bloc so far.
• However, a formal recognition will give a boost to business.

The need for a GI tag

• In the late 1990s, American firm RiceTec tried to patent the Basmati rice in US, under the Texmati brand.
• USA is not a party to the UN Convention on Biodiversity.
• Navdanya, Dehradun challenged the biopiracy, and in 1999 India enacted its GI law.

• Basmati is a registered GI in India (application number 145).
• Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Delhi, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, and Jammu & Kashmir are the GI registered producers of Basmati.
• Madhya Pradesh also claimed to market rice under Basmati tag.
• APEDA was asked by the GI registry to include Madhya Pradesh among those states that grow Basmati, in December 2013.

• The European Union issued new standards in the pesticides residue content in Basmati in 2017 to deem it fit for import.
• The new norms have resulted in the drop in exports of Basmati to the European Union.
• Presence of chemicals in Basmati being imported from India and Pakistan was discussed in the EU in 2020. 

• Getting the GI tag enables those holding the right, to prevent a third-party from using the tag if their product does not match up to the pertinent standards.
• This does not mean that the holder of the tag can stop anyone else who is producing using the same techniques as per the set standards. 

• The application was published in an official EU journal on September 11, 2020, after clearing internal evaluations.
• According to the EU’s regulations, countries can file opposition to GI claims within a period of 3 months from the publication in the Official Journal of the European Union, given that the country has its own GI Act.
• The Pakistan Government enacted the GI (Registration and Protection) Act only in March 2020.
• In India, the Geographical Indications of Goods (Registration and Protection) Acthas been in force since 1999. 
• However, at that point, Pakistan had not done the basic homework of getting a GI registration for Basmati within the country itself.
• Now, Pakistan’s basmati rice has finally got a GI registration within the country.
• So, the EU may grant the GI registration for basmati to both the countries together.
• Basmati rice in Pakistan is grown mainly in its Punjab province, and its cultivation has extended to Sindh and Balochistan provinces.
• Within Punjab, the traditional areas are lagging behind in production.
• The cultivation of basmati rice in provinces other than Pakistan’s Punjab has diluted the exclusivity of its Basmati’s geographical territory. 
• Pakistan has to prove to the EU that it has been maintaining exclusivity of its regions cultivating basmati. 

The Prospects now

• India is ahead in the race for GI tag from the EU as it already had long discussions with EU officials.
• The discussions included the areas of cultivation in India that fall under basmati and the GIs on EU products that India should recognise.
• Experts say that if the EU grants GI tags for Basmati to both India and Pakistan, it will not affect India’s exports.
• India has been successfully exporting basmati to the EU without the EU’s GI tag so far.
• India has a 65 per cent share in global basmati trade while Pakistan has the rest.
• In financial year 2019-20, India produced 5 million tonnes (mt) of basmati rice.
• During 2019-20, India earned ₹31,025 crore by exporting 4.45 mt basmati rice.
  • 61% exported.
• In FY2018-19, India’s basmati exports stood at 4.41 million tonnes (₹34,411 crores).
• In the five years between 2014-15 and 2018-19, India’s Basmati exports have increased.
• From about 99 lakh metric tonnes (LMT) in 2014-15, the export of Basmati has increased to 44.15 LMT in 2018-19.
  • An increase of over 19%.

• Pakistan’s export of Basmati has dropped from 77 LMT in 2014-15 to 5.37 LMT in 2018-19.
  • Decrease of around 26%.

• Europe has emerged as a major market as exports to Iran slowed down.
• In the first eight months of FY21, exports to Iran fell 16%.
• During Europe’s COVID-19 induced lockdowns, South Asians in Belgium and the Netherlands are stocking up on basmati rice from India.
• India’s exports of basmati rice to Belgium have increased 60% in the first eight months of the current financial year.
  • Imports by the Netherlands have almost doubled.
• The common variety of basmati rice, 1121 Pusa, which is mostly exported, has been fetching a 15% higher price from November, 2020.
• In Europe, consumers are drawn towards aromatic basmati rice for traditional dishes such as risotto or paella, and sushi.

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