Summary
India is the world’s largest producer of bananas, contributing over a quarter to global production. Kerala’s Nendran Banana has recently secured a Geographical Indication registration from the Geographical Indications Registry in Chennai. The GI tag is a legal mechanism that recognizes goods as originating from a specific region, attributing unique qualities or reputation to their geographic origin. Such legal protection is particularly valuable for agricultural enterprises, supporting consumer recognition and reputation building. The post also briefly compares European Union schemes protecting agricultural and food product names.
India is the largest producer of the world’s most popular fruit, the Banana, churning out over a quarter of Global production of Bananas, which brings us to the discussion at hand, i.e., Kerala’s sumptuous Nendran Banana has got Geographical Indication registrations from the Geographical Indications Registry, Chennai.
Geographical Indication (GI) refers to any indication that identifies the goods as originating from a particular place, where a given quality, reputation or other characteristic of the goods is essentially attributable to its geographical origin. Geographical Indication is the best legal tool available for the protection of goods in developing countries. This would definitely help the agricultural enterprise in achieving the consumer recognition necessary to create the reputation based on geographical origin.
Three European Union schemes of Geographical Indication and Traditional Specialties known as Protected Designation of Origin (PDO), Protected Geographical Indication (PGI), and Traditional Specialty Guaranteed (TSG) promote and protect names of quality agricultural products and foodstuff. These laws protect the names of wines, cheeses, hams, sausages, seafood, olives, beers and even regional breads, fruits, raw meats and vegetables.
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