Nine north-eastern Indian products gets geographical indication registry

GUWAHATI: The organic and exotic agricultural produce of Northeast India got leg up with as many as nine products accorded geographical indication (GI) registry.

These products included Assam Karbi Anglong Ginger, Assam Tezpur Litchi, Meghalaya Khasi Mandarin, Sikkim Large Cardamom, Mizoram Bird Eye Chilly, Manipur Kachai Lemon, Tripura Queen Pineapple, Arunachal Orange and Nagaland Tree Tomato.

Government owned North Eastern Regional Agricultural Marketing Corporation Limited ( Neramac) took the initiative to get GI registry to protect exclusive, special local crops of Northeast India four years back. North Eastern Council gave financial support to the initiative.

According to NERAMAC this will pave way for better branding and marketing of these products both in domestic and international Market besides protecting local crops. This will also help to showcase exclusivity of these products. “Process of arranging registration was never easy, as in Northeastern Region very less documentation of products is available which is need for application process.”