The first consignment of GI tagged sweet dish Mihidana, sourced from Bardhaman in West Bengal, has been exported to the Kingdom of Bahrain. This is part of the government’s effort to promote indigenous and geographical identification (GI) tagged products.
The unique sweet dish, Mihidana was exported to Bahrain by APEDA registered M/S DM Enterprises, Kolkata and imported by Aljazira Group, Bahrain. Described as the micro-cousin of the traditional boondi, the sweet dish’s name is derived from two words – mihi meaning fine and dana, meaning grain.
Mihidana is being displayed (also for tasting purpose) to consumers at Aljazira super stores in Bahrain. More consignments of the unique sweet dish would be exported to Bahrain during the forthcoming Diwali festival.
Recently, to commemorate the historical legacy of a century old sweet delicacy and GI certified – Jaynagarer Moa, prepared from popped-rice ball and 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 was exported to the Kingdom of Bahrain, by APEDA registered D M Enterprises, Kolkata. APEDA has been focusing on increasing lesser known, indigenous and GI tagged food products from the country. In August, 2021, India Post released a special cover on West Bengal”s sweetmeats Mihidana and Sitabhog. West Bengal’s Bardhaman got the GI tag for the century-old sweetmeats in 2017.
A GI tag is a sign denoting a specific geographical origin and possesses 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.
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APEDA has been carrying out promotional activities to bring unique and GI certified products to the agricultural and processed food products export map of India. APEDA provides assistance to set up pack houses across States which would fulfill the mandatory requirement or infrastructure for export of fresh fruits and vegetables to the international market.
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