High Court orders listing of GI products across Bangladesh

The High Court on Monday (19 February) asked the authorities concerned to compile a list of all products from every region of the country that are officially recognised as Geographical Indications (GI) or have applied for the recognition.

The High Court ordered officials, including the secretary of the industries ministry and other government parties concerned, to submit the list of GI products that can be nationally and internationally registered along with the already registered ones before it by 19 March.

A High Court bench of Justice Muhammad Khurshid Alam Sarkar and Justice Sardar Md Rashed Jahangir passed the orders after hearing a writ petition regarding it.

The court also issued a rule, asking why the authorities' inaction to create and register a list of GI products would not be considered illegal, lawyer Sarowat Siraj Shukla from Tangail, also the petitioner of the petition, told journalists.

The secretaries of the ministries of industries, commerce, agriculture, cultural affairs, and textile were asked to submit their explanations within four weeks.

Supreme Court lawyer Siraj Shukla filed the writ petition with the High Court on 18 February, seeking directives on preparing a consolidated list of GI products. The lawyer petitioned the court to preserve the international GI status of important products of the country, including Tangail saree.

India recently claimed the centuries-old Tangail saree as its own by recognising it as a GI product. When India recognised the Tangail saree as a GI product of West Bengal, it sparked widespread debate and criticism in Bangladesh.

Later, the industries ministry recognised the Tangail saree as a GI product of Bangladesh on 8 February.

The writ petitioner said there is an opportunity to appeal until 4 April against the Bangladeshi GI products registered by India, including loom sarees from Tangail and honey from the Sundarbans