Geographical Indication (GI) Tags act as a special identification is ascribed to any region, town, or state. These tags are assigned to certain products like in agriculture or handicraft that symbolises the uniqueness of that particular region or place. India, as a member of the World Trade Organization (WTO), enacted the Geographical Indications of Goods (Registration and Protection) Act, 1999. Later it came into force with effect from 15 September 2003. GI has been defined under Article 22 (1) of the WTO Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) Agreement as: “Indications which identify a good as originating in the territory of a member, or a region or a locality in that territory, where a given quality, reputation or characteristic of the good is essentially attributable to its geographic origin.”
‘Kandhamal Haldi’, a variety of turmeric indigenous to southern Odisha, has earned the Geographical indication (GI) tag on April 1st 2019 from Intellectual Property India, an organisation functioning under the auspices of the Union ministry of commerce & industry.
The famous Kandhamal turmeric again got the prestigious National Intellectual Property (NIP) award for the year 2021-22, which was given at New Delhi by Union Minister Piyush Goyal. The Kandhamal product got the highest vote in the farmer category and won the award. Earlier in 2019, the Kandhamal turmeric had got GI tag. The present honour is expected to boost the demand of Kandhamal turmeric further.
Dr S. K. Kar Head Intellectual Property Facilitation Centre (IPFC) established at Central Tool Room & Training Centre (CTTC) mentioned Kandhamal Haldi cultivation is environmental resilient having low risk, high productivity and the crop is sustainable in adverse climatic conditions, he also added “Samples collected from different locations were tested by reputed laboratories for technical/ scientific investigation. It is noticed that the Kandhamal Turmeric contains special medicinal values and having very high potentiality for medicinal use and industrial utility.”
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