‘Bagda chingri’ of Bangladesh got a GI Certificate (Geographical Indication of products). Janendra Nath Sarkar, Registrar and Additional Secretary of Department of Patents, Designs and Trademarks, Ministry of Industries, said this on Wednesday (18 May).
Janendra Nath Sarkar said, ‘The issue of recognition was quite certain. No country has objected to this. So ‘Bagda chingri’ is now Bangladesh’s. We have sent it to the Department of Fisheries.’
The acknowledgment certificate signed by Janendra Nath Sarkar states, ‘It is being certified that in the geographical indication registration book, under the name of the Department of Fisheries, GI-11 in classes 29 and 31 have been registered for ‘Bagda chingri’ product of Bangladesh from 4 July 2019.’
In May 2019, Bangladesh applied for a GI certificate for ‘Bagda chingri’. On 6 October last year, the Department of Designs and Trademarks published the matter in the Gazette and an international journal. As a rule, if no one objects within two months of its publication in the journal, there is no further impediment to obtaining a GI certificate for that product. 6 December of last year was the last day to object. As no other country objected to it during this period, Bangladesh got the GI certificate as the first applicant. For this reason, Bangladesh is the sole proprietor of ‘Bagda chingri’ now.
If the soil, water, climate, and altitude from the sea level of a country and the culture of the people there play the most important role in the production of a product, then it is recognised as a GI product of that country. Jamdani is registered as the first Geographical Indication (GI) product of the country. Then one by one Dhaka’s Muslin, Rajshahi’s silk, Rangpur’s Shataranji, white soil from Vijaypur in Netrokona, Dinajpur’s Kataribhog, Bangladeshi Kalijira, Chapainawabganj’s Khirshapati mango, and Hilsa got GI certificates.
