Case Study on Geographical Indiaction By-Amit Singh

8/14/2019 Case Study on Geographical Indiaction By-Amit Singh

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CASE STUDY ON GEOGRAPHICAL INDICATIONS(I.P.R.)

NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF FASHION TECHNOLOGY, NEW DELHI

CASE STUDY

ON

GEOGRAPHICAL

INDICATIONS

BY :-

AMIT KUMAR SINGH (01) ANUJ KUMAR (02)

AMARTO CHAKRAVARTY (04) AJAD KUMAR PANDEY ()



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THE STRANGE CASE OF DARJEELING TEA November 07, 2003

If you can't brew champagne in California (even though you use the same sort of grapes) buthave to call it sparkling wine or something equally silly, why should you be able to call teagrown in Kenya or Sri Lanka from the same sort of tea plants as you find in Darjeeling,Darjeeling tea?

According to the Darjeeling Planter's Association, 40,000 tons of tea are passed off in theworld as Darjeeling and "consumers of these 40,000 tons of tea are being misled into

believing that they are consuming Darjeeling tea when in fact they are not."This writer first came across this question in July 1985 while on a visit to Darjeeling withPurno Sangma, who was minister of state for commerce then. The Darjeeling PlantersAssociation had arranged the trip.

As I recall, Sangma gave his beatific smile and promised to "look into the matter" apparentlyunmindful of the fact that his ministry was, at that very moment, busy opposing the inclusionof Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) in the new round of tradetalks that the US had proposed in 1982. O tempora, o mores!

How times change. Today, India is busy making the case that Darjeeling tea can be grown

only in Darjeeling and basmati rice can be grown only in Dehra Doon.

Both, it seems, have the special geographic qualities needed to grow the real thing. This, bythe way, was the basis on which the vineyards of Champagne in France won their case back inthe 1970s.

The proper name for the basis for establishing this kind of thing is "geographical indications"now. It falls in Section 3 of Part II of the Agreement on TRIPS.In a recent paper C Niranjan Rao*, who is a consultant at the Indian Council for Research onInternational Economic Relations (ICRIER), discusses the issues involved.

Rao gets his teeth properly into it all and the paper is worth reading for the sheer detail it provides.

The 40,000 ton question is whether the higher level of protection that is available to winesand spirits under Article 23 should be available to Darjeeling tea and basmati rice also.Rao thinks not, because he says that while Article 23 protection is indeed discriminatory, itmakes no sense to extend it to other products like Darjeeling tea or basmati rice.

Instead, he says, developing countries "should experiment with Article 22 protection for someyears and if the results are unsatisfactory should then ask for enhanced protection."Far simpler and cheaper, he says, to go the trademarks route via logos. "The producers of Kenya would not be able to use the Darjeeling tea logo if it is protected in Kenya or it could



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be stopped at the border of the importing country if the logo is protected in that country." Or,"protection afforded by Article 22.3 in respect of trademarks seems to be sufficient."Will there be any takers for his proposition? Unlikely, because amazingly, the list of problemsthat afflicts Darjeeling tea today is identical to the one Sangma was given that rainy day in1985.Thus, first, most of the bushes are more than 100 years old because the planters have not

bothered to replace them at the required rate. The best yield comes between 30 and 50 years."The rule of thumb is that 3 per cent of tea bushes should be replaced every year, while thecurrent rate is only 0.5 per cent per year." The old age affects both yield and taste. And withevery postponed year, the cost increases.

Secondly, in 1985, the USSR used to buy the bottom end of Darjeeling tea to mix with their Georgian tea to fool upmarket Russians. Now that market has collapsed completely and the

bottom has fallen out of the market. And even Indians don't want the summer and autumnflushes.

The result: the growers in Darjeeling have been bleating on and on to the government, whichhas done precious little to address the real problem, which is inadequate investment. Instead,it is focusing on trying to protect the unprotectable.That leads to the inevitable question: if the planters in Darjeeling, by not investing enough,are not giving us proper Darjeeling tea, but something quite inferior, an approximation if youwill, why should we not get something that approximates it better -- never mind where it isgrown?

* Geographical Indications in the Indian Context: A Case Study of Darjeeling Tea , ICRIER Working Paper No 11, September 2003.



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BASMATI TALKS BETWEEN PAKISTAN AND INDIA END

INCONCLUSIVELYIslamabad, Nov.9 : A two-day meeting between Indian and Pakistani officials over thepossible joint registration of Basmati rice in the world market came to an inconclusiveend on Saturday.

Both countries have, however, agreed to continue their dialogue in the first quarter of 2009 in New Delhi to achieve a 'uniformity of views' on three agenda items - consensus on thedefinition of Basmati, the area where Basmati is produced historically and how to make a

joint effort to stop third parties from registering Basmati under the Geographical Indication(GI) of the World Trade Organisation agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual

Property Rights (TRIPS).

According to the Dawn, this was the second meeting of the Pak-India Joint Working Group onthe possibility of registration of Basmati rice as a joint GI.

The Pakistan delegation was headed by Joint Secretary (Exports), Ministry of Commerce,Azher Ali Chaudhry, while the Indian team of experts was led by Joint Secretary of the IndianDepartment of Commerce, Dinesh Sharma.

A commerce ministry official said that both sides shared technical information on standardsand the delimitation of Basmati growing areas. They also discussed how both the countriescould challenge 'a third party infringement'.

Due to immense pressure from growers and exporters of Basmati, Pakistan had last year considered legal action against India for announcing Super Basmati rice as an originallyIndian produce.

The Trading Corporation of Pakistan (TCP) and Rice Export Association of Pakistan (REAP)were ready to represent Pakistan and proceed with the case in an Indian court.

However, during the course of a composite dialogue in June 2006, both countries decided toresolve the issue through dialogue by constituting a joint working group. The working groupheld its first meeting in New Delhi in April this year and agreed to iron out differences.

It is not only India and Pakistan who have tried to patent Basmati rice. Rice Tec Inc, a US- based company, was granted a controversial patent in September 1997 on Basmati rice grainsand lines. India challenged this patent and Rice Tec Inc was forced to withdraw its claim.

The meeting also discussed how both the countries could take a joint stand against any suchinfringement in the future. Due to persistent Indian lobbying and diplomacy, the EuropeanUnion (EU) has already stated that it would not accept Basmati registration separately andconsidered it a product of both Pakistan and India. This was one of the reasons that Pakistan

had agreed to holding talks over the joint registration of Basmati.--- ANI



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SCOTLAND AND CHINA AND CASHMERE TRADE (CASHMERE)

CASE NUMBER: 275CASE MNEMONIC: CashmereCASE NAME: Scotland and China and Cashmere Trade

THE ISSUE

Since the Victorian Era, British textiles have been regarded among the world's finest knits.Dawson International, Britain's largest textile company, requires one metric ton of cashmerewool per day to operate, while Britain's cashmere breeders produce less than one metric tonannually.

(1) Presently, China supplies 60% of the world's cashmere, which amounts to 3,000 metrictons per year.(2) With economic liberalization, growth in textile and apparel industries, and direct access tocashmere wool, the Chinese are encroaching upon the domain of the British knitters and rivalthe British for the limited supply of cashmere wool. With thelimits of wool produced globally, the increased popularity of cashmere apparel, and theinexpensive textiles from China, Scotland is faced with the possibility of inadequate suppliesof quality cashmere wool at elevated prices.(3) While China seeks to expand markets and continue economic growth, Britain fights tomaintain the cashmere supply at responsible prices while carrying on the tradition of high-quality woolen knitwear. Environmentally, the Scottish Highlands and the Himalayan regions

of China will be impacted by increased herding, over-grazing, deforestation, and increasedtextile manufacturing. Within China, an environmentally unstable country, goat herdingseems to attract little concern. More pressing environmental issues, such as elevated carbondioxide levels and polluted water supplies are the focus of a quickly modernizing China.

ANALYSIS

Previously, Chinese wool producers brought raw wool to a central market to sell at set prices; however, this operation changed. With the economic liberalization of the mid-1980s,the mountain farmers were free to sell 25% of their crops on the open market for cash. Thetransition toward a market economy removed the central authority that set prices, standards,and amount of wool sold in China. To replace the government control, middlemen entered theequation and capitalized on the new economic operations by exacting high prices from theWestern buyers. As restraints are removed, the quality of the raw wool decreases and pricessoar as much as 50% in 1990. With the substantial price increase for raw materials, DawsonInternational, Inc., the largest British knitwear company, estimated that the volume of cashmere sweaters sold fell by 30% in 1990.

The increased interest in the market economy led Chinese industries to expand beyond rawmaterials to begin processing and spinning the raw wool into cheap alternatives to Scottishknits. These inexpensive garments already have entered the Asian markets and may begin toenter the Western markets, which poses a threat to the British textile industry. According toDawson International, the problem is not that the Scots will have to compete with theChinese, rather, the limited amount of cashmere available.



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SOLUTION

With the rise in demand for cashmere products, environmental repercussions will followunless the farmers take measures to prevent overpopulation, deforestation, and becomeenvironmentally conscious. Goats are notorious for being indiscriminate eaters. In addition tograin and water, goats consume over 10% of their body weight in roughage daily. With theland overstocked, the eating habits of the goats are likely to cause deforestation. In the aridHimalayan region, deforestation can kill pasture land, encourage the growth of weeds, initiatesoil erosion, and desertification. Further, the increased breeding and rising of goats inScotland, Australia, New Zealand, the United States, Iran, Afghanistan, Tibet, and Tasmaniawill impact the environment.

In Scotland, the highland cattle are being forced to share the land and limited vegetationwith increasing numbers of goats. With less food available, fewer nutrients will be consumedand the quality of the cashmere fibers will suffer. During the industrialization period, a large

portion of Britain's land was deforested for ship building, and manufacturing. According toexperts, goats may improve pasture land and aid reforestation by eating rough plants and

brush. The danger, however, stems from the maximization of profit through increased herdsizes, which may result in environmental crises.

The challenge to supply the markets with cashmere wool serves as a significant economicstruggle to meet increasing demand and maximize profits. One must look beyond fashion andluxury of cashmere garments to the possible detrimental effects on the environment.



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EC FUR BAN

THE ISSUE

In March, 1991, the EC adopted a provision which prohibited the importation for commercial purposes of certain goods (including the furs of eight animals) when these goods originated ina country where animal trapping methods fell below internationally accepted standards of humanity. In June, 1991, the EC adopted an amendment which broadened the scope of theagreement to include five more species and to reduce prohibition periods. Imports of theseProducts come mostly from Greenland, Canada, and the United States. These countries, andthe people in them, complained that these acts were economically and culturally unfair.

DESCRIPTION

The original proposal for the Council Regulation prohibited the importation, for commercial purposes, of certain goods (consisting of or including the fur of beaver, otter, coyote, olf,lynx, bobcat, sable, raccoon) when these goods originated in a country there(a) The leghold trap was still used, or (b) Trapping methods fell below internationally agreed humane trapping standards.

It also allowed for the two-year suspension of the prohibition (expiring December 31, 1977),in which the Commission and appropriate authorities of the countries concerned determined

before July 1, 1994, that sufficient progress was being made towards the development of

humane trapping methods in their territory (Recital 5).

The text of the amendment to the proposal for a Council Regulation on the importation of certain furs contains the following

The European Union's regulation No. 3254/91 would prohibit member countries fromimporting any raw furs made out of fur from 13 species unless the country of origin adoptsinternationally recognized standards of humane trapping procedures. This regulation'simplementation, originally scheduled to go into effect on January 1, 1996 had been delayeduntil January 1, 1997 in order to allow trapping communities, largely in North America andRussia, to meet the terms of the EU legislation. However, the legislation has once again beendelayed for an indefinite period.



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REFERENCES

www.wto.org

www.wipo.com

Geographical Indications in the Indian Context: A Case Study of Darjeeling Tea , ICRIER WorkingPaper No 11, September 2003.

http://www.american.edu

http://www.wto.org/http://www.wipo.com/http://www.wto.org/http://www.wipo.com/

Case Study on Geographical Indiaction By-Amit Singh

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