The Hindu Business Line : Salem fabric bids fair to enter geographical Act

DARJEELING tea, Pochampalli sari and Piyanur Pavithra ring. What is the common between these products other than that they bear the name of their places of origin/manufacture prefixed to them.

These are the manufactured products that are candidates for being registered under the Ministry of Commerce administered Geographical Indications of Goods (Registration and Protection) Act.

The products are at the threshold of securing entry into the records of the office of Geographical Indications Registry (GIR). There is one more new candidate from Tamil Nadu — the well-known yarn dyed cotton fabrics manufactured by the handloom/powerloom weavers of Salem region in Tamil Nadu.

The members of the Salem-based textile industry meeting here under the banner of the Salem Exporters Association (SEA) made a formal presentation before a five-member GIR evaluation team seeking inclusion of the `Salem fabric' into the registry. The SEA members explained to the GIR evaluation team the historical importance and the special production process of the Salem fabric. This interaction was organised under the aegis of Textile Committee, Salem Chapter.

The officials representing the GIR led by Dr S.N. Maity, Controller General of Patents, Designs and Trade Marks, sought to ferret out more inputs on the `uniqueness' of the Salem fabric so as to qualify it as a `distinct good identified with the area/region of manufacture' that can vouchsafe its registration in the GIR. The products registered under the GIR Act are qualified to be given protection against duplicity in manufacture of the products by unauthorised persons and their misusing such geographical indications of goods.

The GIR is felt considering the fact that under the trade-related intellectual property rights (TRIPs) unless a geographical indication of goods is protected in the country of its origin, there is no obligation for other countries to extend reciprocal protection. The validity of a registration of goods under the GIR is 20 years, according to Dr Maity.

The members of SEA led by its Secretary, Mr A. Karthikeyan, and President, Mr R. Venugopal, said that the specific `weave' pattern of the cotton yarn dyed woven fabrics was hereditary and identified with the region since 1942. These woven fabrics are well recognised by the merchant-exporters from Delhi, Mumbai markets who indent their supplies from the Salem weavers. These fabrics are exported to the US, Canada and Europe.

The speciality of these yarn-dyed fabrics is that they are made of double-yarns, which obviates the need for sizing (the pre-weaving process).

According to Mr Karthikeyan, the current value of these fabrics exported out of Salem would be around Rs 3,000 crore. But marketing of 90 per cent of these fabrics is routed through merchant exporters and direct export involving the Salem-based fabric producers is only the remaining 10 per cent. The value addition has not benefited the local weavers, he said.

According to Dr Maity, the application for the GIR registration was filed in February and the office of the GIR intends to have another hearing on July 4 to further evaluate the claims of the Salem weavers. In the event of the Salem fabric's entry into the registry, it would cover all the stakeholders of the products, the artisans, the products and the sellers.

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