New Zealand to amend legal guidelines for GI registration of Indian items in addition to wines, spirits beneath FTA

New Zealand has taken a binding dedication beneath its Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with India to amend its legal guidelines inside 18 months of the pact’s implementation to facilitate the geographical indication (GI) registration of Indian items in addition to wines, and spirits within the island nation.

The present GI legislation of New Zealand solely permits India’s wines and spirits to be registered.

A GI, a sort of an mental property proper, is primarily an agricultural, pure or manufactured product (handicrafts and industrial items) originating from a particular geographical territory.

Sometimes, such a reputation conveys an assurance of high quality and distinctiveness, which is actually attributable to the place of its origin.

As soon as a product will get a GI tag, any particular person or firm can not promote an identical merchandise beneath that title. Its different advantages embody authorized safety to that merchandise, prevention towards unauthorised use by others, and selling exports.

“Dedication is now in place to taking all steps vital together with modification of its legislation to facilitate the registration of India’s wines, spirits and ‘different items’, a profit that was accorded to the EU [European Union] by New Zealand. Timelines for this are 18 months from settlement coming into into drive,” the Commerce Ministry mentioned.

The 2 nations on Monday (December 22, 2025) introduced the conclusion of the FTA negotiations. The pact is more likely to be carried out after the signing of the doc, and the method could take about 7-8 months from now.

The well-known items which carry this tag embody Basmati rice, Darjeeling Tea, Chanderi Material, Mysore Silk, Kullu Scarf, Kangra Tea, Thanjavur Work, Allahabad Surkha, Farrukhabad Prints, Lucknow Zardozi and Kashmir Walnut Wooden Carving.

Founder and Chairman of Nice Mission Group Society (GMGS) Ganesh Hingmire mentioned that this can be a constructive transfer as it might assist increase exports of GI merchandise. “Getting a GI tag for non-agri items will assist enhance the earnings of our folks additionally,” he mentioned.