Textiles Committee, Ministry of Textiles, in association with the Ministry of Commerce & Industry and United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) is implementing a project "Strategies and Preparedness on Trade and Globalisation in India in the Textiles and Clothing Sector". As part of implementing this project, seminars, workshops and conferences are being organised at various levels of the industry in key clusters of the country, on issues relating to globalisation & Intellectual Property Rights (IPRs).

As part of sensitising the industry about the ways and means of protecting products through Geographical Indications (GIs) Act and to disseminate the benefits of registration to the other sectors like Agriculture, Handicrafts, Small & Medium Enterprises (SMEs), Leather and Fisheries, Textiles Committee, Ministry of Textiles, Government of India is organising a Regional Conference on "IPR Protection through Geographical Indications Act" here in city at Hotel Taj Bangara, Hyderabad. The conference was formally inaugurated yesterday night by Ms. Lakshmi Puri, Acting Deputy Secretary General and Director Division of Trade in Goods, Services and Commodities, United Nations Conference on Trade and Development(UNCTAD). The day long conference will be held today. Mr. Abhijit Das, Dy Coordinator & Officer Incharge, UNCTAD-India and Dr. P. Nayak, Director, Market Research, Textiles Committee also participated in the inaugural function.

The Theme of the Hyderabad regional conference is: IPR Protection through Geographical Indications Act

Speaking immediately after inaugurating the conference Ms. Lakshmi Puri said IPR protection through Geographical Indication Registration is an issue which is extremely important for a developing country like India.

Adding further she stated that in the contemporary world, a new development paradigm is emerging that links the economy and culture, embracing economic, cultural, technological and social aspects of development at both the macro and micro levels. Central to the new paradigm is the fact that creativity, knowledge and access to information are increasingly recognized as powerful engines driving economic growth and promoting development in a globalizing world. "Creativity" in this context referes to the formulation of new ideas and to the application of these ideas to produce original works of art and cultural products, functional creations, scientific inventions and technological innovations.

There is an economic aspect to creativity, observable in the way it contributes to entrepreneurship, fosters innovation, enhances productivity and promotes economic growth. The emerging "creative economy" has become a leading component of economic growth, employment, trade and innovation and social cohesion in most advanced economies. Unfortunately, however, the large majority of developing countries are not yet able to harness their creative capacity for development. The creative economy offers to developing countries a feasible option and new opportunities to leapfrog into emerging high-growth areas of the world economy, she added.

Recognising the importance of emerging creative economy as a leading component of economic growth, employment, trade, innovation and social cohesion for the first time UNCTAD and UNDP have presented the perspectives of the United Nations on this exciting new topic in the Creative Economy Report. It provides empirical evidence that the creative industries are among the most dynamic emerging sectors in world trade. It also shows that the interface among creativity, culture, economies and technology as expressed in the ability to create and circulate intellectual capital, has the potential to generate income, jobs and export earnings while at the same time contributing to social inclusion, cultural diversity and human development. The Report addresses the challenge of assessing the creative economy with a view to informed policy making by outlining the conceptual, institutional and policy framework in which this economy can flourish.

Today, creative industries are among the most dynamic sectors in world trade informed Ms. Lakshmi Puri. Over the period 2000-2005, international trade in creative goods and services experienced an unprecedented average annual growth rate of 8.7 per cent. The value of world exports of creative goods and services reached $ 424.4 billion in 2005, representing 3.4 per cent of total world trade, according to UNCTAD. Nowadays in the most advanced countries, the creative industries are emerging as a strategic choice for reinvigorating economic growth, employment and social cohesion. The so called "creative cities" are proliferating in Europe and North America, revitalizing the economy of urban centres through cultural and social developments offering attractive jobs, particularly to young people. The turnover of the European creative industries amounted to 654 billion euros in 2003, growing 12.3 per cent faster than the overall economy of the European Union and employing over 5.6 million people.

An important conclusion of this study is that developing-country exports of related creative goods increased rapidly over the period 1996-2005 from $ 1 billion. This spectacular growth is indicative of the catching up strategies being pursued in a number of developing countries to increase their capacities to supply value added products to global markets. It also reaffirms the continually expanding demand for creative products that rely on these related industries for their distribution and consumption. This ever-increasing demand is further confirmation of the potential of the creative economy to contribute to economic growth.

China, India, Turkey, Thailand and Mexico are among the top 20 exporters worldwide of creative goods. With exports of creative goods reaching US $ 8.1 billion in 2005, India has improved its ranking from being 16th in 1996 to 11th in 2005. While India’s market share of 2.4% may not appear impressive compared to the 18.3% share of China, India has recorded the highest growth rate among the top 20 exporting countries during 2000-2005. 21.1% growth of India’s creative goods outstripped that of most of the other countries. With $ 6.1 billion exports, design is the largest contributor to trade of creative industries in India. It encompasses six main groups of items—interior design, graphics, fashion accessories, jewellery, toys and architectural services, informed Ms. Lakshmi Puri.

Representatives of industry associations, civil society organisations, research institutions, developmental organisations, co-operatives and other stakeholders from the southern and western states of the country like Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Kerala, Puducherry, Maharashtra, Gujarat and Rajasthan are attending this two-day programme besides senior Officers of Government of India, State governments and UNCTAD.

The IPR protection of unique products including textiles and clothing through Geographical Indications have been taken up as an important theme under this project. The main focus of the theme is to (i) strengthen human and institutional capacities of the industry stakeholders and provide feedbacks to policy makers to take better informed decisions, (ii) formulate their strategies with a greater level of understanding of the impact and opportunities from globalisation, in general and IPRs in particular. (iii) creating countrywide awareness on the issues like GI and how it can protect the livelihood of stakeholders, (iv) GI registration of unique products as per the Geographical Indications (GIs) Act of Government of India, (v) market linkage including enhancing exportability of the product, (vi) eliminating unfair practices/ infringement of the unique products through legal interventions.

As of today, the Textiles Committee who has been assigned the project activities in textiles and clothing sector of India has successfully addressing the issues associated with the theme IPR protection of textile and clothing products through Geographical Indications (GIs). A countrywide campaign has been initiated for creating awareness on this new area of Intellectual Property Right. In this process, about 60 workshops have been organised in the key textile clusters of the country and more than 10,000 stakeholders were informed about the possible benefits of GI. At the same time, an exhaustive study has been completed by identifying 96 potential handloom products for registration. So far, the products like Banaras Sarees and Brocades & Lucknow Chikan Craft of UP, Pipli Applique & Khandua Sarees of Orissa, Upada Jamdhani, Gardwal Sarees & Dharmavaram Silk of Andhra Pradesh, Gulledguda Khan of Karnataka, Balaramapuram Sarees and Fine cotton fabrics of Kerala, Bhagalpur Silks of Bihar, Bandhni & Surat Zari of Gujarat, Shantipuram Sarees of West Bengal, Paithani Sarees and fabrics of Maharashtra have been taken up for GI registration. An effort has also been made to measure the benefits of GI registration by conducting a study on Pochampally Ikat of AP and Solapur Terry Towels of Maharashtra (products registered under GI Act in 2005) in terms of increase in income, employment, price, production and productivity of the stakeholders including handloom weavers.

Geographical Indications (GIs), is the newest addition to Trade Related Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) Agreement under WTO Framework and are defined as indications, which identify a good as originating in the territory of a member or a region or locality in that territory where a given quality, reputation and other characteristics of a good is essentially attributable to its geographical origin. It acts as an indication of source and protects the intangible assets in goods such as uniqueness of the product, market differentiation and quality standards. It has been seen in the past, when a product like Darjeeling Tea, Kanchipuram Silk, Banaras Saree and Brocades acquires reputation over a time, there may be attempts by others to misutilise it for their own advantage by duplicating it. Such attempt harms both innovator and consumers of the product. The original producer is supposed to loose a part of the market due to infringement and the consumer will not be able to get the original product due to presence of similar type of products without original quality and uniqueness. Keeping these aspects in mind, GIs is included as an important part of TRIPS agreement in 1994. The Main objectives of GI are:

To confer legal protection to the product and safeguards against unauthorised use of the product by other countries or producers

To promote economic prosperity of the producer of goods or idea.

To allow registered proprietor to initiate legal action against unauthorised users.

To reduce or eliminate unfair competition for the benefit of both genuine producers and consumers.

In compilation to the TRIPS Agreements, the Government of India has also promulgated Geographical Indication (GIs) Act and Rule in 2003. The act stipulates protection of original quality and uniqueness of the products like Basmati Rice, Darjeeling Tea, Alphanso Mango, Banarasi Saree & Brocades so that the replication of the product by other manufactures within and outside the country can be arrested.

The conference will focus on the issues associated with the ways and means for GI registration of unique and original products of the country. Besides explaining the benefits of the IPR protection of unique products, the experts will also deliberate on the procedural aspects involved for filing application before the competent authority of Government of India for registration. The workshop will also help to create awareness among the grass-root level stakeholders about the prospects and challenges of international trade agreement of GI and enable the small and medium scale enterprises for improving their competitiveness and efficiency through IPR Protection to face the global challenges.

The workshop will create an opportunity for close interaction among the stakeholders, government agencies (state & centre), civil society organisations, etc. for preparing future strategy in a common platform. The concerns of the poorer segments of the manufacturers and traders of the industry would be recorded and the feedback/inputs will be provided to the government to enact sector level policies and schemes.

The workshop has two sessions, the Inaugural session on 3rd June 2008 and two Technical sessions on 4th June 2008.

The speakers/experts on the technical sessions for 4th June 2008 are: Shri. Natarajan of GI Registry, Ms. Kasturi Das, CENTAD, New Delhi, Dr.S.K. Soam, NAARM, Dr. Rashmi Banga, UNCTAD-India, New Delhi, Dr. P. Nayak & Shri. T.K Rout, Textiles Committee, Mumbai, Shri. R.M. Sankar, ATIRA, Ahmedabad, Shri. Subodh Kumar, APTDC, Hyderabad and Shri. Mahesh Gulati, UNIDO will also deliberate on issues pertaining to Geographical Indication (GIs) Act.

- End -