The wrong aroma

The commerce ministry's move to notify "Super Basmati" (developed originally in Pakistan) as an approved Indian variety of Basmati for export may have gone down well with exporters, who sense a new trade opportunity, but it is fraught with certain potentially unsavoury consequences. The biggest danger is of India being accused of bio-piracy under the global norms on trade-related intellectual property rights (TRIPs). Though this may not happen as Islamabad does not seem to be equipped with the kind of technical evidence that is required for claiming intellectual property protection in such cases, it cannot be ruled out for all times. Super Basmati is already well-known in international trade circles as it constitutes nearly 70 per cent of Pakistan's Basmati export. As such, the Indian defence that Punjab Agricultural University has selected this variety (from the seeds presumably brought by farmers from Pakistan) may not carry much conviction.

What is worse, the Indian move has already evoked a reaction from Islamabad, which has lost little time in indicating that it could officially allow the cultivation and export of Pusa Basmati-1, which accounts for the bulk of Indian Basmati exports. This has, therefore, led to a varietal war between the two countries which together enjoy a monopoly in the global Basmati market. If India can dispossess Pakistan of some share of the super Basmati rice market by introducing its brand of the same rice, Pakistan can potentially end the Indian monopoly over Pusa Basmati. This apart, Indian Basmati exporters have to cope with the substantial cost advantage enjoyed by Pakistan's Basmati traders due to exchange rate differentials and tax exemptions enjoyed across the border.

What both the countries need to realise is that by grabbing each other's Basmati varieties, they may weaken their case for getting formal protection for Basmati rice as a geographical indication. This might, as a consequence, embolden the producers of Basmati's similar-sounding commercial clones, such as Jasmati and Kasmati, to claim legitimacy as Basmati-type rice, to the detriment of the trade interests of both Indian and Pakistan. Indian agricultural scientists are already wary of just such a development and have, as a result, stopped claiming that new strains of scented rice are Basmati, though some of them possess the characteristics that set Basmati apart from other types of aromatic rice. The Delhi-based Pusa Institute, for instance, has begun calling its new series of Basmati-like rice varieties as Sugandh, in order to get around TRIPs issues. However, that may not ensure safety against bio-piracy because these varieties can also be adapted for cultivation in neighbouring countries. The best way to safeguard them, as also the varieties with genuine Basmati parentage, is through the country's sui generis law for intellectual property rights protection""the Plant Varieties Protection and Farmers' Rights Act, 2001. Fortunately, the government has already constituted the plant varieties protection authority, and this is now in the process of finalising the procedure for registering these varieties. India's commercial and other interests in the Basmati sector would get a proof security cover only after such protection is made available.