GI TAG TO APATANI TEXTILE

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Context

An application seeking Geographical Indication (GI) tag for the Arunachal Pradesh Apatani textile product has been filed.

Apatani weave

The Apatani weave comes from the Apatani tribe of Arunachal Pradesh living at Ziro.
The woven fabric of this tribe is known for its geometric and zigzag patterns and also for its angular designs.
The Apatani community weaves its own textiles for various occasions, including rituals and cultural festivals.
The tribe predominantly weaves shawls known as jig-jiro and jilan or jackets called supuntarii.
The people here use different leaves and plant resources for organic dying the cotton yarns in their traditional ways. And only women folk are engaged in weaving.

Handloom

The traditional handloom of this tribe is a type of loin loom, which is called Chichin, and is similar to the traditional handloom of the Nyishi tribe.
It is portable, easy to install and operated by a single weaver, especially the female member of the community.

About Apatani Tribe

The Apatani, or (Tanw, Tanii) are a tribal group of people living in the Ziro valley in the Lower Subansiri district of Arunachal Pradesh.
The Apatanis, have a distinct civilization with systematic land-use practices and rich traditional ecological knowledge of natural resources management and conservation, acquired over the centuries.
Their wet rice cultivation system and their agriculture system are extensive even without the use of any farm animals or machines. So is their sustainable social forestry system.
UNESCO has proposed the Apatani valley for inclusion as a World Heritage Site for its "extremely high productivity" and "unique" way of preserving the ecology.
Major festivals – Dree and Myoko.
In July, the agricultural festival of Dree is celebrated with prayers for a bumper harvest and prosperity of all humankind.
Paku-Itu, Daminda, Piree dance, etc., are the main cultural programmes performed in the festival.

GI Tag

A geographical indication or GI is a sign used on products that have a specific geographical origin and possess qualities or a reputation that are due to that origin.
Geographical Indications are part of the intellectual property rights that comes under the Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property.
In India, Geographical Indications registration is administered by the Geographical Indications of Goods (Registration and Protection) Act of 1999.
This tag is valid for a period of 10 years following which it can be renewed.
GI tags are covered under World Trade Organization.
Geographical indications are typically used for agricultural products, foodstuffs, wine and spirit drinks, handicrafts, and industrial products.
It is basically an assurance that the product is coming from that specific area.
It's kind of trademark in the international market.
Karnataka has the highest number of GI tagse. 47products followed by Tamil Nadu (39).

Benefits of registration of Geographical Indications

It confers legal protection to Geographical Indications in India
Prevents unauthorised use of a Registered Geographical Indication by others
It provides legal protection to Indian Geographical Indications which in turn boost exports.
It promotes economic prosperity of producers of goods produced in a geographical territory.

How a geographical indication is different from a trade mark?

A trade mark is a sign which is used in the course of trade and it distinguishes goods or services of one enterprise from those of other enterprises.
Whereas a geographical indication is an indication used to identify goods having special characteristics originating from a definite geographical territory.

To read about to complete list of GI Tags,

Visit: https://www.iasgyan.in/blogs/complete-list-of-geographical-indications-gi-tags-in-india-as-of-2021