What on Earth are Geographical Indications

Rural communities in developing economies are often marginalized due to the small size of their holdings, inferior seed-stock, and competition from large landholders. Sustainable production for subsistence farmers is a matter of being able to eat for the year, but they may be resistant to making any changes in methods of production or crop type. Although many governments have recognised that national growth is dependent on innovation, they have often failed to promote or promulgate innovation into rural communities. There is growing interest around the world to protect traditional knowledge, genetic resources, plant intellectual property protection, plant variety rights, and geographical indications, in an effort to leverage current knowledge. Appellations of Origin (AOs) and Geographical Indications (GIs) protect producers or manufacturers of goods, including agricultural products. The Geneva Act of the Lisbon System defines a GI as an appellation containing the name of a geographical area that designates the origin of that good "which serves to designate a good as originating in that geographical area, where the quality or characteristics of the good are due exclusively or essentially to the geographical environment, including natural and human factors, and which has given the good its reputation" (art. 2(i)) as well as any appellation "which identifies a good as originating in that geographical area, where a given quality, reputation or other characteristic of the good is essentially attributable to its geographical origin" (art. 2(ii)). The presentation focuses on the development of the legislation and its impact on the development of products with GIs within the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the impact of using GI products on community development.