Pakistan has won the battle to register Basmati as Pakistani rice against India, which was trying to prevent Pakistan from using the word Basamati.
“I am glad to inform that Pakistan has registered Basmati Rice as Geographical Indication (GI) under Geographical Indications Act 2020,” said Special Advisor to Prime Minister for Commerce and Investment Abdul Razak Dawood. A geographical indication (GI) is a label that inform buyer about the origin of the product. India has been trying to remove Basmati name from Pakistani rice saying that Basmati rice is only an Indian brand.
Meesaq Arif, Executive Director of Intellectual Property Organization (IPO) termed it a “land mark achievement in the field of Intellectual Property Geographical Indication.”
India had filed an application in the European Union demanding that the long-grain aromatic rice should be recognized as being exclusively Indian brand. This way, India was trying to snatch the rice market from Pakistan which is known as the producer of the best Basmati rice. In the European Union, IPO Pakistan in December had challenged Indian bid to obtain exclusive Geographical Indication tag for Basmati rice.
