HC orders listing all Bangladeshi products eligible for GI certification

Relevant stakeholders have been allowed four weeks to show why their failure to list and register the GI products should not be deemed illegal

The High Court has ordered the government to list all Bangladeshi products eligible for Geographical Indication (GI) certification by Mar 19.

The secretaries of commerce, agriculture, culture and other relevant stakeholders have also been asked to show why their failure to list and register the GI products should not be declared illegal.

They have four weeks to respond.

The bench of Justice Muhammad Khurshid Alam Sarkar and Justice Sardar Md Rashed Jahangir passed the orders after hearing a petition on Monday.

The High Court order comes after India's Ministry of Industries received Geographical Indications recognition for a saree named 'Tangail Saree of Bengal', with the approval of the World Intellectual Property Organization.

Later, following a whirlwind of controversies, Bangladesh's government agencies took action, with the Tangail district administration submitting a GI recognition application for the sarees on Feb 6.

The application was subsequently approved and officially gazetted by the Directorate of Patents, Designs and Trademarks (DPDT).

Barrister Shukla Sarwat Siraj filed a public interest litigation on Sunday seeking instructions to prepare a list of Bangladeshi products eligible for GI certification.