Rice exporters oppose plan on MP basmati rice in GI tagging

Parveen Arora

Tribune News Service

Karnal, August 7

Following the Madhya Pradesh government’s attempts for a Geographical Indication (GI) tag to basmati rice for its 13 districts, the All India Rice Exporters Association (AIREA) said that the GI tag to MP’s basmati would give advantage to Pakistan, which produced basmati as per GI tagging in 16 districts.

Exporters feared that it might lead to a fall in exports and India losing its global platform. “We have requested Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar to intervene as the inclusion of new states will dilute the purpose of GI demarcation. The move will help other countries to expand the area of basmati under GI tagging. Pakistan will grab that opportunity to start sowing basmati all across the country. Thailand will be equally benefited,” said Vijay Setia, former president of AIREA.

He said as per GI of Goods (Registration and Protection) Act, 1999, a GI tag could be issued for agricultural goods that originated in an area of a country based on its quality. “The GI tag to basmati has been given on the basis of traditionally grown areas falling under the Indo-Gangetic plains due to special aroma, quality and taste of the grain. Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Delhi, western Uttar Pradesh and select districts of Jammu and Kashmir have GI tagging for basmati,” Setia maintainedNathi Ram Gupta, president of AIREA, condemned the attempt and said it would have a serious negative impact on the Indian exports. “India is the world’s largest exporter of basmati, which it exports to over 150 countries. We have recently met the Chief Minister to raise the issue with the Union government,” he said.

Anil Mittal, founder-president of AIREA, said inclusion of Madhya Pradesh in the traditional basmati GI area would be against national interest.