Call to promote, protect basmati in all forums The Financial Daily 21/10/2020

The SME Farmers Association of Pakistan (SMEFA) held a meeting at a local club to urge the concerned institutions to take prompt measures for the protection and promotion of basmati rice in and outside Pakistan and also all international forums without loss of time.
Haji Muhammad Saeed chairman SMEFA said basmati rice is our heritage and indeed a gift from Almighty Allah. He added that it is a well known fact that our basmati rice fully qualifies and by virtue of its merits of coming under the geographical radius and inheriting the characteristics and features deserves the geographical indications
(GI) tag and the trade mark of basmati belongs and is owned by the Islamic Republic of Pakistan and all Pakistanis.
He urged the ministries of agriculture, commerce and the Intellectual Property Organization (IPO), the Small Medium Enterprises Development Authority
( SMEDA) , the Trade Mark’s Registry, the rice exporters, growers, millers and processors to join hands with the Trade Development Authority of Pakistan to unitedly protect and promote the basmati rice and make sure our rights to its ownership and GI tag are not infringed.
President UNISAME Zulfikar Thaver endorsed the views of the SME farmers and growers of basmati rice and assured them on behalf of himself and the institutions that no stone will be left unturned and basmati rice will be protected and promoted at all cost.
Thaver urged the farmers to grow more basmati rice and the exporters to promote more basmati rice. He also requested the commercial attaches in overseas countries to promote basmati rice and arrange basmati festivals to proclaim to the world that our basmati is the best aromatic rice in the world.

Posted in: Press Releases