Date: Sat, 14 Feb 1998 04:18:03 +0000
Subject: M-G: Battle for Basmati



Another vignette of the workings of the "free" market that is forced 
down the throats of the majority of humanity by a minority of 
murderous parasites.

Sid
------------------------------------------------------
12 FEBRUARY 1998 : 

Nidhi Nath Srinivas
NEW DELHI 11 FEBRUARY
A crippling blow to India, Basmati rice has been patented in the United States.

The patent for calling aromatic rice grown outside India `Basmati' 
and selling it under any brand name has been obtained by the American 
company Ricetec.

Ricetec has already been trying to stake a claim in the international 
Basmati market with brands like `Kasmati' and `Texmati', which claim 
to be ``basmati-type'' rice. 

However, Ricetec will now be able to not only call its aromatic rice 
`Basmati' within the US, but also label all its rice exports so.

As a result, not only will India lose out on the 45,000-tonne US 
market, which forms 10 per cent of the total basmati exports, but 
also its premium position in vital markets like the European Union, 
Stunned by the development, the commerce ministry, the APEDA, the 
Indian Agricultural Research Institute, and the Indian Council of 
Agricultural Research, and the Basmati industry have together decided 
to immediately challenge the patent given to Ricetec by the US 
government.

In a meeting held yesterday, the government has decided to ask the US 
Patent Office to revoke the patent with immediate effect because it violates 
the fundamental fact that the long grain aromatic rice grown only in Punjab, 
Haryana, and Uttar Pradesh is called Basmati.

``Patenting Basmati in the US is like snatching away our history and 
culture,'' sources said.

According to sources, India's chief contention is that while Ricetec 
can sell rice virtually identical in aroma and and taste world-wide, 
it cannot use the traditional Indian name `Basmati' because it is 
employed for a very specific variety of rice grown in a specific 
geographic area.

The Geographic Appellation Bill, which is meant to safeguard the 
patent rights of traditional Indian commodities like basmati, has yet 
to see the light of day.

``Had the government enacted the Geographic Appellation Bill, India 
would have been able to claim reciprocal protection in WTO countries 
under the TRIPS agreement.''

``Since we have been lax in protecting our rights, countries like the 
US can stake a claim,'' sources said.

In its patent application Ricetec also acknowledges that ``good 
quality Basmati rice traditionally come from northern India and 
Pakistan...Indeed in some countries the term can be applied to only 
the Basmati rice grown in India and Pakistan.''

According to Ricetec, the ``limited success'' in growing Basmati in 
other parts of the world ``supports the belief in consumer, trade and 
scientific circles that authentic Basmati rice can only be obtained 
from the northern regions of India and Pakistan due to the unique and 
complex combination of environment, soil, climate, sowing practices 
and the genetics of the Basmati varieties.''

However, the company now claims to have invented certain ``novel'' 
Basmati lines and grains ``which make possible the production of high 
quality, higher yielding Basmati rice worldwide.''

``(The invention) is based, among other things, on the surprising 
discovery that certain Basmati plant and grain characteristics and 
aspects of the growing environment for traditional Basmati rice lines 
are not critical to perceived Basmati product quality'' by consumers, 
Ricetec has stated.

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