Better protection for GI

Just recently, the municipal government of Sagada, Mountain Province condemned the unscrupulous practice of some sellers in selling imported oranges but claiming that the oranges were grown in Sagada.

Sagada Mayor Felicito Dula said the mislabeling of imported oranges as “Sagada Orange” is uncalled for because buyers, especially tourists, believe that the products truly come from Sagada when in fact they are imported ones or even from other orange-producing areas in the country.

It is really difficult to tell one from the other.

But Mayor Dula said the mislabeled Sagada oranges look totally different from the oranges that are produced in the municipality where they are harvested from October up to March of each year.

He explains that there are actually six orange varieties being produced in the municipality. These are the Ponkan Mandarin, Satsuma Mandarin, Valencia Orange, Hamlin Orange, Washington Navel Orange and Clementine Tangerine. The one that thrives best in the locality and is one of the more popular orange variety produced in Sagada is Satsuma Mandarin.

For the ordinary tourist buyer, there is no way of knowing whether the orange was really harvested from Sagada or not.

In the same way, when a seller says that the mangoes came from Guimaras or that the bangus came from Dagupan, there is always this slight chance that the seller may not be telling the truth.

But does it always have to be this way? Is there some way that a buyer can be assured that the fruit or other food product that he or she is buying at a premium price because of that certain quality or reputation associated with the source is the real deal?

At present, the famous Guimaras mangoes, the Tau Sebu T’nalak woven cloth of Lake Sebu, Bikol Pili, Cordillera Heirloom Rice and the Aklan Quality Seal are registered as collective marks by the Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines. Collective marks are a kind of trademark or service mark usually owned by an organization such as associations and used by only those who are authorized by the organization to use it, such as its members, to distinguish a common characteristic, quality, or other attributes of their products or services.

In the case of Bikol Pili, the certificate of registration for the collective mark was granted to the Orgullo Kan Bicol Association Inc. According to OKB president Nona Nicerio, the mark serves to distinguish the origin and quality of pili produced made and marketed by OKB members.

Most of these collective marks are set to be registered as geographical indications once the IPO Philippines finalizes a registration system for GIs.

A GI is defined under the draft implementing rules on geographical indications as “any indication which identifies a good as originating in a territory, region, or locality, where a given quality, reputation, or other characteristic of the good is essentially attributable to its geographical origin and/or human factors.

GI registrants will have the right to prevent the use of their products in such a way as to mislead the public as to the geographical origin of the goods, or falsely representing to the public that the goods originate in another territory, among others.

According to the IPOPhl, some potential GIs also include Davao Pomelo, Camiguin Lanzones, Davao Cacao, Kalinga Coffee, Masbate Beef, Baguio Strawberry, to name a few.

The draft IRR aims to fulfill the recognition of GIs as protectible intellectual property under the Intellectual Property Code as well as the Philippines’ obligation as a member of the World Trade Organization to provide reciprocal rights and GI protection to other members.

Due to the absence of specific GI rules, the Philippines protects GIs currently through the use of collective marks under the trademark law.

As explained by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), while GIs identify and protect the goods of a particular region, collective marks inform the consumer of the ownership structure of a mark and their standards or qualities required but say nothing about the territorial origin of a given product.

To give a specific example, since the collective mark “Bikol Pili” is registered with the OKB, the latter can only authorize its members to use the mark in their products. But if “Bikol Pili” becomes a registered GI, only pili and pili products coming from Bicol can utilize the said GI.

Specifically, a 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. According to WIPO, in order to function as a GI, a sign must identify a product as originating in a given place. In addition, the qualities, characteristics, or reputation of the product should be essentially due to the place of origin.

For instance, a watch can only bear the indication “Swiss Made” if its movement is Swiss, and if its technical development, assembly and final checks take place in Switzerland.

Other world-renowned examples of GIs include Café de Colombia (Colombia), Bordeaux (France), Scotch Whisky (UK), Solingen Cutlery (Germany), Bohemia Crystal (Czech Republic).

Although GIs are commonly names of places, WIPO explained that many systems allow non-geographical terms with a traditional geographical connotation. An example would be Argan oil (Morocco) which serves as GI although it is not a geographical name.

There is however a stricter kind of GI called appellations of origin. These include Tequila (Mexico), Habanos for cigar (Mexico). The link with the place of origin must be stronger in the case of an appellation of origin so that the quality or characteristic of a product protected as an appellation of origin must result exclusively or essentially from its geographically origin.

According to WIPO, Prosciutto di Parma or Parma ham is one such appellation of origin. In order for ham to receive the Parma name, it must be produced in the province of Parma using exclusively pigs from that area. Each step – from breeding of the pig and their diet to the final packaging – is closely monitored and controlled by the Instituto Parma Qualita. Only the Instituto can brand the finished ham with the seal of Parma’s five-pointed ducal crown, qualifying the ham as true Parma ham.

In the case of Tequila, where the agave plants to make it can be grown, where it can be bottled, are governed by strict rules so that when a bottle is labeled “Tequila,” the buyer knows he or she is getting the real thing, it added.

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