First Consignment Of GI Tagged Sweet Dish 'Mihidana' From West Bengal Exported To Bahrain: Commerce Ministry

In an effort to promote indigenous and Geographical Identification (GI) tagged products, the first consignment of GI tagged sweet dish Mihidana, which was sourced from West Bengal's Bardhaman, has been exported to the Kingdom of Bahrain, the Ministry of Commerce said on Tuesday (5 October).

The consignment of unique sweet dish Mihidana was exported to Bahrain by the Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA) registered DM Enterprises, Kolkata and imported by Aljazira Group in Bahrain.

The sweet dish from West Bengal is being displayed (also provided for tasting purpose) to consumers at Aljazira super stores in Bahrain.

More consignments of the unique sweet dish would be exported to Bahrain during forthcoming Diwali festival, the ministry said.

Recently, to commemorate the historical legacy of a century old sweet delicacy and GI certified - Jaynagarer Moa, prepared from popped-rice ball & fresh date-palm jaggery, in Jaynagar, West Bengal, India Post in collaboration with APEDA released a specially designed envelope.

In January 2021, a consignment of Jaynagar Moa, a century old GI certified sweet delicacy prepared from popped-rice ball and fresh date-palm jaggery - was exported to Bahrain.

The ministry added that APEDA has been focusing on increasing lesser known, indigenous and GI tagged food products from the country.

A GI tag is a sign denoting a specific geographical origin and possess qualities or a reputation that are due to that origin.

GI, a form of intellectual property right (IPR), is distinct from other forms of IPR, as it ascribes the exclusivity to the community in a defined geography, rather than to an individual, as is in the case of trademarks and patents.

A GI tag can be issued for agricultural, natural or manufactured goods that have a unique quality, reputation or other characteristics attributable to its geographical origin.

Darjeeling tea, Basmati rice, Kanchipuram Silk, Mysore Silk, Hyderabadi haleem, Nagaland chilli products, etc, sold with the GI tag have premium pricing.

APEDA undertakes market promotion activities for export of food products, market intelligence for making informed decisions, international exposure, skill development, capacity building and high-quality packaging.