Rice, but not Condi

It is possible to argue that India and Pakistan have been concentrating on the wrong 8216;Rice8217;. Condoleezza Rice, the US secretary of state, is of course very important to both countries, because America is important. But basmati rice is arguably more crucial. Condi can8217;t get the two countries to start a clear-headed, commercially sound joint effort that will make money and very likely create a momentum for other similarly intelligent efforts. Basmati can do that. As reported in this newspaper on Wednesday, Indian and Pakistani commerce ministry bureaucrats may be close to agreeing on Indo-Pak joint registration of Basmati as a geographical indicator GI. GIs are given, under WTO rules, to products whose reputation rests on geography; Champagne is the most obvious and most quoted example. GI markers give protection against imitators and typically add a premium on selling price. Two countries together claiming special status for a high-value product obviously makes a strong case. But in subcontinental negotiations, agreements don8217;t happen just because something makes sense.

Pakistan has been late in reacting. India had proposed joint action on Basmati protection immediately after it won a case against an American company, Texmathi, which had sought to patent on Basmati. In the months Pakistan took to reportedly warm up to the idea, one thing has happened, and one thing hasn8217;t. What has is that Pakistan8217;s Basmati exports have taken a hit. What hasn8217;t is a Pakistani law on GI; India passed its law in 1999. Indian and Pakistani versions of why Pakistani exports have fallen differ; which is no surprise. Our Basmati is free of aflatoxin a dangerous stuff, produced when cereals and oil seeds are improperly stored and dried, say Indian exporters. Our commerce ministry stood by as India registered Super Basmati with the EU, say Pakistani exporters. Pakistan also says Super Basmati was developed by a Pakistani research institute in 1996. India says Pakistan has been slow to protect its Basmati.

As anyone with minimal experience of Indo-Pak talks know, this can go on and on. But thankfully businessmen in both countries have endorsed the idea of a joint Basmati GI. With Indian and Pakistani rice exporters united, bureaucrats must sort out the grain from the chaff. That really means Pakistan must pass its GI law, and India and Pakistan must come to an understanding about Super Basmati. A joint venture on Basmati should help the two countries feel better about cooperating commercially. Indo-Pak commercial relations are scandalously limited. One of the few exceptions is smuggling of Basmati across the LoC 8212; India subsidises Basmati in Kashmir and the laws of economic incentive do the rest. That should tell bureaucrats something.