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India plans strategy to maintain basmati export share

Sheela Bhatt in New Delhi

India is formulating a new strategy to maintain its export share in the Rs 32-billion global basmati rice market.

The Union commerce ministry has taken this step in view of the legal battle in the US over rights to the use of the term 'basmati'.

"We don't foresee any problems over claiming our rights over basmati rice, except in the US. For the last 20 years, the term 'basmati' has been used in the US and is considered a generic name. So we can't stop them from using it. We are considering other options to counter the challenge," said Anil Swarup, chairman Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority.

"We may brand basmati as 'Indian basmati' and then build the image of the Indian variety as different from other basmati varieties. We will obtain a trademark for it, too," he said.

The world imports around 1.18 million tonnes of basmati. India is the largest exporter of basmati. The largest importer of basmati rice from India is the Gulf region, which accounts for over 73 per cent of the exports. The Gulf market, however, has been stagnant for some time, whereas the US market is growing.

"Basmati cannot be patented because it has been in public domain for long and is not a new product or process. Like, turmeric or neem, basmati rice cannot be patented," said an industry observer.

RiceTec could patent three varieties of basmati because it evolved these through research. These didn't 'pre-exist' in public domain, he said.

The US does not have a Geographical Indications Act. India has such an Act, but the enabling regulations are not yet ready.

"In six weeks, we would be able to have the authority to deal with the GI Act," said Swarup. GI Act identifies the products of a geographical area whose quality, characteristics or reputation are exclusively credited to the agro-climate or the geography of the region.

India can register basmati under the Geographical Indications Act. Only after doing so can India ask for registration of the product in other country.

"The media and the politicians are confused over the Patent Act, Trademark Act and Geographical Indications Act. Reports say that India has lost the basmati patent case. There was no such case related to the patent because basmati cannot be patented," said a commerce ministry official, expressing surprise at the media coverage to the issue.

RiceTec had moved an application before the US Patent And Trademark Office to get the patent for its researched basmati varieties. "They did not call it basmati. They call it a 'superior variety of basmati'," said the official.

"One of the demands that RiceTec made included the generic definition which would also have covered Indian basmati. If that had been approved, it could have harmed India deeply. In that limited context India fought the case. India's objections were accepted by the USPTO and the other generic observations in the entire submissions of RiceTec were dropped," he clarified.

"The US authority accepted five of the 20 demands made by RiceTec. These were not objected to by India. All these demands were related to the new varieties," he added.

"India doesn't have the legal rights over basmati yet because it is not registered anywhere. But we can prevent others from having any exclusive rights over basmati. We have succeeded in that area," said Swarup.

"We are able to prevent RiceTec from obtaining the exclusive use of the term basmati. But we too do not have any exclusive rights over its use," he informed.

India is fighting 40 cases in 25 countries related to basmati.

India expenses run up to Rs 7 million annually to fight these cases. India had successfully fought a case against RiceTec in the UK, where the company had tried to get a patent for 'Texmati'. However, in the US, the company sells 'Texmati' because US laws permit it.

"The Indian government is worried that in the long run we might lose the basmati exclusivity because the US market wizards can mesmerise the consumer by popularising the evolved brand of basmati as a 'superior basmati' and if the consumer is convinced, Indian exporters may lose," said the commerce ministry official.

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