Apatani Textile Products: Demand for GI Tag : Daily Current Affairs

Relevance: GS-3: Intellectual property rights

Key Phrases: Apatani tribe, zigzag patterns, supuntarii, loin loom, Chichin, Paris Convention, TRIPS, Geographical Indications of Goods (Registration and Protection) Act, 1999

Why in News?

Recently, an application was filed for the Geographical Indication (GI) tag for the Arunachal Pradesh Apatani textile product by a firm named Zeet Zeero Producer Company Limited.

About Apatani Textile Products

The Apatani weave comes from the Apatani tribe of Arunachal Pradesh living at Ziro, the headquarters of lower Subansiri district.
The woven fabric is known for its geometric and zigzag patterns and also for its angular designs.
The community weaves its own textiles for various occasions, including rituals and cultural festivals.
The tribe predominantly weaves shawls known as jig-jiro and jilan or jackets called supuntarii.
The people here use different leaves and plant resources for organic dying the cotton yarns in their traditional ways.
Only women folk are engaged in weaving.
The traditional handloom of this tribe is a type of loin loom, which is called Chichin, and is similar to the traditional handloom of the Nyishi tribe.
Loom is portable, easy to install and operated by a single weaver, especially the female members of the community.

What is a GI tag?

A GI is primarily an agricultural, natural or a manufactured product (handicrafts and industrial goods) originating from a definite geographical territory.
Any association of persons, producers, organisation or authority established by or under the law can be a registered proprietor.
The registration of a geographical indication is valid for a period of 10 years.
It can be renewed from time to time for a further period of 10 years each.

Regulatory bodies of GI

Globally, Geographical Indications are covered as a component of intellectual property rights (IPRs) under the Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property. GI is also governed by the World Trade Organisation’s (WTO’s) Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS).
In India, Geographical Indications registration is administered by the Geographical Indications of Goods (Registration and Protection) Act, 1999 which came into force with effect from September 2003. The first product in India to be accorded with GI tag was Darjeeling tea in the year 2004-05.

Benefits of GI tag

Getting a GI tag for a product indicates that it originates from a particular territory in India and has unique characteristics or quality.
Having a GI tag for a product prevents unauthorized use of a registered Geographical Indication by others, boosts exports of Indian Geographical indications by providing legal protection and also enables seeking legal protection in other WTO member countries.
Typically, such a name conveys an assurance of quality and distinctiveness, which is essentially attributable to the place of its origin.
It also provides comfort to customers about the authenticity of that product.
Some of the examples of Geographical Indications in India include basmati rice, Darjeeling tea, Kancheepuram silk saree, Nagpur orange and Kolhapuri chappal.

Difference between a geographical indication and a trademark

A trademark is a sign used by an enterprise to distinguish its goods and services from those of other enterprises. It gives its owner the right to exclude others from using the trademark.
A geographical indication tells consumers that a product is produced in a certain geographical place and has certain characteristics that are due to that place of production.
GI may be used by all producers who make their products in the place designated by a geographical indication and whose products share typical qualities.

Mains Question:

Q. What do you understand from the Geographical Indication Tag? Discuss its significance for Agricultural and MSME sectors. How GI tag can be helpful for India to bring both product quality and product standardization in its domestic and global supply chain. ( 15 marks)

Source: The Hindu