Pakistan plans to move WTO over basmati rights

15 Jan 2007

Mumbai: Pakistan is planning to move World Trade Organisation (WTO) against India over intellectual property rights of basmati rice.

Islamabad says it will file a legal case in the WTO under the geographical indication law of the trade-related intellectual property rights, reports quoting a senior agriculture ministry official said. Talks between Pakistan and India to agree to the joint registration of basmati rice in the European Union markets have failed to deliver, mainly due to strong opposition from the stakeholders and India''s unanimous move of registering the super basmati in the global market under its own GI, the report said.

"We have held many futile discussions with India over the past many months. Now we have no other option but to fight our case at the WTO to secure the geographical indication for basmati," the unidentified official was quoted by the Dawn newspaper as saying.

An official said the talks for joint registration had failed because the Pakistani basmati growers and exporters had rejected the idea of joint registration with India unanimously and had warned of dire consequences for the Pakistani exports.

A formal decision was yet to be taken in this regard, he said.