NERAMAC's Geographical Indication target allocated by PMO

GUWAHATI: The North Eastern Regional Agricultural Marketing Corporation Limited (NERAMAC), under the Union Ministry of DoNER, is the only public sector unit (PSU) in the world that has owned 13 Geographical Indication (GI) products of the North East region. These commodities are the Arunachal Orange, Mizo Chilli, Kachai Lemon, Tripura Queen Pineapple, Khasi Mandarin, Tezpur Litchi, Sikkim Large Cardamom, Karbi Anglong Ginger, Naga Tree Tomato, 'Chak-hao' Black Rice, Memang Narang, Dalle Khursani and Naga Sweet Cucumber.

Moreover there are another seven Agro-Horti products in the pipeline, which is going to be registered within July, 2022. These products are Gol Nemu and Bheem Kol of Assam, Black Cherry of Manipur, Sohsang of Meghalaya, Large Cardamom of Arunachal, Mizo Mango from Mizoram and Jamui Orange from Tripura.

Under the ongoing Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav celebration, the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) has set a target to NERAMAC to register another seven exotic Agri-Horti produces of North East region to get registered under GI, which will eventually boost NERAMAC to get enhanced its GI basket and also to set a significant milestone for development of Agri-Horti sector of North-East region.

It is to be noted that Geographical Indication (GI) may be defined as the name of a region, a specific place or, in exceptional cases a country, used to describe an agricultural natural or manufactured goods, product or a food item. A GI consists of the name of the geographic location where the goods originate and may also incorporate a design. The key is that the GI sign identifies the product as originating in a particular geographic location and signals to consumers that the goods feature a quality, characteristic, or reputation that is essentially attributable to that geographic source. Thus, a GI is simply a tool that helps consumers differentiate between products by leveraging the reputation of the geographic location as a production site for goods that have particular desirable qualities such as a particular taste, smell, texture, longevity, high quality, etc.

The proprietor or authorized user has the rights to use the geographical indication and prevent other from using such material without permission. There are several advantages of geographical indications as GI protection provides legal rights to the users, it prevents unauthorized use of registered GI, it boosts exports, and it promotes economic prosperity of producers of goods in a geographical territory.

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