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Indo-Pak cooperation needed for exclusive Basmati right:APFEDA

India and Pakistan should join hands to ensure that 'Basmati' is accepted as a geographical indicator and none outside the region is able to use the name for its rice, Agricultural and Processed Foods Exports Development Authority chairman Anil Swarup said on Tuesday.

"Since both India and Pakistan grow basmati they have to take a common view on the issue to prevent the use of the name by developers and cultivators in other countries," Swarup said.

He said India had already passed the Geographical Indicator Act as required by the Trade Related Intellectual Property Rights agreement to enable the exclusive use of the word 'Basmati'.

The regulations under the Act are being currently framed by the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion in the Union commerce and industry ministry.

Once the rules are in place, India would register 'Basmati' in India as a product unique to its own region and set in motion the process of getting it registered in other countries too, Swarup added.

He however said this could not be done in countries like the US which did not have a GI Act at all.

"It is here that the Indo-Pak cooperation is required for pushing the US to pass the requisite legislation," he added.

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