High Court orders to prepare list of GI products

The High Court has instructed the authorities concerned of the government to prepare a list of all products from every region of Bangladesh that are officially recognised as Geographical Indications (GI).

The HC bench of Justice Muhammad Khurshid Alam Sarkar and Justice Sardar Md Rashed Jahangir on Monday passed the order after hearing a writ petition filed by Barrister Sarwat Siraj Shukla.

The court asked to submit the list by March 19 and also issued a rule asking why the authorities’ failure to create and register a list of GI products would not be considered illegal.

The secretaries of the Ministries of commerce, agriculture, culture and other concerned officials have been given four weeks to respond to the rule.

Earlier on Sunday, Barrister Shukla filed the writ with the High Court seeking directions for compiling a list of all GI products in Bangladesh.

The Indian government recently claimed the centuries-old Tangail saree as its own by recognising it as a GI product.

Following this, the Ministry of Industries recognised the Tangail saree as a GI product of Bangladesh on 8 February.