Key Points
The UK's demand of a higher level of protection for its GI products from the agriculture sector under the proposed free trade agreement (FTA) with India remains an unresolved issue as the talks for the pact are on to iron out differences, an official said..
Nilanshu Shekhar, founding partner at law firm KAnalysis, said Indian legislation does not differentiate between wines and spirits, and other products in terms of GI protection, and the decision to grant higher protection rests with the central government and varies based on international recognition...
"The UK's interest in securing higher-level GI protection for more products in the proposed FTA with India predominantly benefits its strong export segments of wines and spirits, dairy products etc..
As FTAs are based on mutual benefits, India should negotiate firmly for the UK to offer similar elevated GI protection to Indian products to a higher range of Indian products too," Shekhar said...
A higher level of GI protection for products like cheese will create problems for Indian companies, hence, New Delhi should not accede to the demand unless the UK is reciprocating equally in this or another department, he added...
