Plea for implementation of Geographical Indication Protection Law

The Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FPCCI) has noted that absence of Geographical Indication Protection Law which was drafted in 2001 has created millions of rupees loss to Pakistan's economy in terms of not fetching good prices for Pakistani products from the international market.
Being one of the marketing tools and a tag for getting higher price, efforts must be made to maintain the benchmark and keep up the reputation of its characteristics and features.
There is a dire need that the government should implement early the Geographical Indication Protection Law with the consultation of relevant federal and provincial ministries and holding of awareness programmes for traders, industrialists and farmers for registration and protection of their products which will help in enhancing of exports.
This Law is pending since 2001 while our neighboring country India implemented this Law in 2003 and since then 220 products have been protected. Due to absence of this law, Pakistan has lost its market of Basmati rice, FPCCI pointed out in a report.
Lack of awareness about importance of branding and value addition has come as a big hurdle in the way of business and trade in the country.
Despite having strong agriculture and industrial bases, the Pakistani business community could not introduce a significant value added product in the world market and absence of branding is shifting all the benefits of the local products to other countries which are earning huge money from global trade.
Pakistan exports best quality towels, bathrobes and many other products without insisting on the "Made in Pakistan" labels and without any brand name. Instead, several European companies import Pakistani products and sell in local markets with their own brand names. In some cases, they send their own stickers to the Pakistani exporters and the product user never knows it is made in Pakistan.