Govt fails to contest super basmati’s registration in India
By Mubarak Zeb Khan
ISLAMABAD, May 24: After a lapse of one year, the government seems helpless to effectively take up with the Indian authorities the issue of unlawful registration of Pakistan's super basmati rice in India which is also an IPR violation.
The registration of basmati rice in India and its export to Middle East and other markets is estimated to cause a loss of more than $300 million to Pakistani exporters.
Since the issuance of notification by the Indian commerce ministry on May 24, 2006, for allowing export of super basmati rice, the Pakistan’s ministries of commerce, agriculture, and the Intellectual Property Organisation (IPO) have done little to challenge the Indian commerce ministry’s move.
The government and the rice exporters are still unclear how to tackle the issue of rights of basmati with India.
A leading super basmati exporter told Dawn on condition of anonymity that red-tape would deprive Pakistan of its ownership right on super basmati rice as no effective action had, so far, been taken for the last one year, except some cosmetic measures. The Indian exporters are pushing the agriculture ministry to include the commodity in its Seed Act, which would completely deprive Pakistan of its exclusive right on the commodity which
it enjoyed during the last two decades.
The exporter said while the government played the role of a silent spectator, the Indian farmers were continuously misusing the name of Pakistan’s indigenous basmati rice varieties, and they were also registering it with their own brand names.
When contacted, the director-general of the Intellectual Property Organisation (IPO) Pakistan, Yasin Tahir, told Dawn that his organisation had nothing to do with the registration of super basmati by the Indian government.
“It is the responsibility of the commerce and the agriculture ministries as well as the foreign office to take up the issue with the respective government," he clarified.
He said his organisation could only extend technical advice to these ministries.
He said his organisation had already received an application for registration of basmati as geographical indications (GIs) under the trade mark ordinance, which is under process.
To a question, he said a separate draft law for GIs is also under consideration, which after consultation with all stakeholders, would be sent to the cabinet for approval. He was, however, not clear when the law would be finalised. “It may take months or years,” he said.
An official of the agriculture ministry said super basmati variety was notified in the Official Gazette of Pakistan under its Seeds Act 1976 as early as 1995, while production and export of this variety started in 1985 in Pakistan.
Super basmati is globally recognised as Pakistan's basmati variety and very well accepted with its exports worth over 800,000 tons.
The commerce secretary, Syed Asif Shah, said Pakistan had already challenged the decision in the Indian court.
“We expect some decision very soon,” he added.
Minfal Secretary Mohammad Ismail Qureshi said that his ministry had examined it, and it was of the view that it was a commercial variety of Pakistan, and the ministry had conveyed its view to the concerned ministry for taking effective steps.
