India to get exclusive rights to sell basmati rice in European Union

According to experts, India is likely to get the exclusive right to the Geographical Indication (GI) Tag for Basmati rice in the European Union (EU) once the deadline for resolving the dispute with Pakistan expires on September 10th.It will offer New Delhi exclusive rights to market the fragrant rice as “Basmati” rice in the EU, deterring other countries, namely Pakistan, from marketing the food grain as “Basmati.” “The current technical circumstances strongly suggest that India would emerge in the Basmati GI tag case at the European Commission,” said S .Chandrasekaran, a trade analyst and author of the book Basmati Rice: The Natural History Geographical Indication. One of the core issues in India's favor is that Pakistan has merely submitted its opposition to the issuance of the GI tag to India, rather than an application for the exclusive indication tag. “Pakistan is playing a losing game,” the expert stated. This would also be a victory for the Agricultural and Processed Food ...