Comparison Between Geographical Indication Indigenous Rice in India and Thailand: Regulations and Practices
摘要
India and Thailand are two largest exporters of rice. Both countries are also well-known for high quality aromatic rice. As the world market for high quality rice has experienced increasing competition, the two countries have used Geographical Indication (GI) as intellectual property right protection to protect producers against unfair competition and misappropriation while protecting consumers against misleading information. This chapter analyzes GI systems in India and Thailand by selecting indigenous GI rice, namely Khao Sangyod Muang Phatthalung from Thailand and Navara rice from India to explore how the GI regulations and practices function in the two countries. We found that India puts a strong emphasis on the local environment, local wisdom and organic production to provide quality guarantee for consumers seeking high quality and traditional products while Thailand puts more emphasis on the authenticity of the variety and sources of seed. In Thailand, the government gives a strong support to GI producers while in India, the GI producer group plays a crucial role in protecting and ensuring the quality of the products. The benefits as observed from price premium is substantially larger for GI producers in India than in Thailand.