Calcutta: Darjeeling Tea, Baluchari saris and Joynagar Moa may all come with a GI (geographical indication) logo soon.

Till now, all GI products had to be registered but there was no common logo.

The Union ministry of commerce and industry is planning to launch a logo to go with all registered GI products to spread awareness among producers and consumers.

Around 286 Indian products have been bestowed the GI tag till date. The latest from the state was Banglar Rasogolla in November. But experts attending a seminar on the Protection and Promotion of Geographical Indications on Friday rued that the lack of checks and balances often leads to abuse and infringement of the coveted tag.

A GI tag is awarded to a traditional food product, textile or handicraft that originates in a specific geographical area and attains qualities or gains a reputation because of that.

"The local society stands to gain from a product's GI status. It is a kind of branding and ensures worldwide recognition. It can also generate livelihood," Rajeev Singh, the director general of Indian Chamber of Commerce (ICC), said at the seminar hosted by consulate general of Italy and ICC at ITC Sonar on Friday.

In Europe, Italy has been a forerunner in the GI race. "We realised that Bengal also has similar potential. It can use the GI status to its advantage. GI products can help generate economic growth, livelihood and tourism. The seminar can help in sharing of experience," said Damiano Francovigh, the consul-general of Italy.

Most speakers at the event highlighted how GI products are often subjected to unfair competition and infringement because of lack of awareness.

"Weavers and artisans are not taught how to benefit from a GI status of a product. The market is flooded with copies and consumers are often the victim of fraud," said Soumya Vinayan, the assistant professor the Council for Social Development, Hyderabad.

Experts said GI status and trademark (sign of the manufacturer) were often confused by consumers.

Advocate Biswajit Sarkar spoke about the monopoly engineered by some producers of Joynagar Moa.

"The group that had applied for GI status would not let others make the sweet though they hailed from the same area. That led to confusion and counter requests from another group of local producers to cancel the registration. We need watchdogs to check such monopoly and investigate each application in detail," Sarkar said.

The discussion revealed how Darjeeling Tea's GI status was abused with many false applications and copies worldwide and how the Tea Board played an active role in protecting the GI status.

Silvia Scaramuzzi of the University of Florence spoke about how GI products are protected in the European Union. "Indigenous products can be ambassadors of their place of origin. They can help in its development. They are perceived as more authentic than mass goods. They preserve culture too. But they need to be protected from unfair competition. They need to get the right remuneration for production to continue," she said.