Alphonso Mango - A Misinterpreted Geographical Indication..!
In an interesting turn of events a couple of months before, Alphonso has been granted a Geographical Indication and in a much celebrated event later, the Certificate of Registration was granted to the Applicant(s) in Delhi in the hands of Hon'ble Commerce Minister.
Going by the facts there are three applicants who have
sought to register Alphonso Mango as the Geographical Indication, namely-
Konkan Krishi Vidyapeeth (Appl. No. 139), Devgad Taluka Amba Utpadak Sahakari
Sanstha Maryadit (Appl. No. 379), and Kelshi Parisar Amba Utpadak Sahakari
Sanstha Maryadit (Appl. No. 497).
Appl. No. 139 sought protection of Alphonso Mango on a wide
GI area which includes few districts of Gujarat, Konkan region of Maharashtra,
North Karnataka and State of Goa. Later the Application was amended and GI area
was confined to the limits of Konkan region of Maharashtra.
Appl. No. 379 sought protection of Devgad cultivar of
Alphonso Mango covering Devgad Taluk as GI area.
Appl. No. 497 sought protection of Ratnagiri cultivar of
Alphonso Mango covering Ratnagiri District as GI area.
Conflict arose with respect to whom the GI registration
shall be granted?
If Appl. No. 139 gets registration then Alphonso as a whole
gets generalized protection on the sought GI area. If Appl. No. 379 & 497
get registration, then the name Alphonso becomes generic nomenclature according
to many.
Traditional and scientific facts tell us something else.
Alphonso derived its name from Afonso de Albuquerque, the Portuguese explorer.
He led the Portuguese invasion into India in the 1600s and therein the
Portuguese introduced the Mango variety through grafts on Mango trees. Starting
its journey in Goa, the Alphonso Mango traveled across the Western India. Later
it became the treasure fiercely guarded by the locals. It can be observed that
significant variation exists, among trees of the same clone in an orchard
w.r.t. fruit shape, size, color, and quality ascribed to bud mutation. The
generic divergence could be attributed to the differences in environmental and
geographical conditions.
It has been popularly said that Mangoes take the color of
the soil they are grown on and rightly so. Red, Iron rich alluvial soil in
Ratnagiri district gives Ratnagiri Alphonso its characteristics color and
flavour. High Silicon content in soil maintains the integrity of peel of Mango,
while the Devgad Alphonso has a thin skin as compared. It has a narrow and
slightly elongated bottom. This feature distinguishes it from other Alphonso
Mangoes. Although visually similar to Ratnagiri and Devgad Alphonso Mangoes,
other Alphonso varieties are grown on flat terrain and far away from sea shore
and therefore differ characteristically (thick skin with less pulp) from the
cultivars grown in Ratnagiri and Devgad on the red soil of the Konkan,
surrounded by the salty sea breeze.
With these convincing arguments and supporting evidences,
the GI Registry had accepted and advertised the applications of Ratanagiri and
Devgad Alphonso Mangoes in Official Journal upon which Konkan Krishi Vidyapeeth
opposed the registration of the same.
Upon receiving the Opposition notice, the Applicants of
Ratnagiri Alphonso Mango and Devgad Alphonso Mango have submitted their counter
statements.
After which, a hearing was called for on 19th
April, 2018 wherein all three Applicants and representatives were invited to
discuss and sort the issue. Registrar of Geographical Indications himself
presided over the meeting and certain directions were issued in this regard. As
a consequence of this hearing, advertised applications of Ratnagiri Alphonso
Mango and Devgad Alphonso Mango were withdrawn. However, no written
communication was made to the respective Applicants in this regard.
An Official Memorandum was issued in the month of May, 2018
wherein it was informed that all the three applications will be merged into one
application. The said memorandum did not actually issue the clear directions as
discussed in the said hearing conducted in April, 2018.
Now, on 3rd October, 2018, in an unprecedented
event, Hon’ble Commerce & Industry Minister’s Twitter handle reported a
registration certificate for merged GI application bearing no. 139 bearing name
of Konkan Krishi Vidyapeeth as the sole proprietor of the Alphonso Mango GI.
Going by the procedure, the said Certificate should have been uploaded on the
official website of GI registry. It was nowhere to be found except on Twitter.
On 4th October, 2018, Twitter handles of CGPDTM
(Controller General of Patents, Designs and Trademark) and DIPP (Department of
Industrial Policy and Promotion) issued another registration certificate
containing name of four applicants as the registered proprietors of Alphonso
Mango GI.
This has lead to a huge confusion among masses as to how one
can identify the Alphonso Mango coming from a particular territory of Konkan
region when all Mangoes from Konkan are going to be labeled as Alphonso..
Isn’t it defeating the whole purpose of registering a
Geographical Indication? The said act of concerned authorities might lead to
create even bigger problems to genuine producers of Alphonso Mango from
Ratnagiri district and Devgad tehsil.
What was the reason for such a haste! Have the Authorities completely missed the whole point of recognizing communities' interest keeping in mind consumers' demand and likes?
Farmers are not even aware what ACTUALLY has happened..how will they derive benefit then..? Even the time won't be able to answer this..
~until next time~
Cheers...!
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