Pashmina Shawls: Kashmir | 02 Sep 2021

Why in News

The Directorate of Handicrafts and Handloom, Kashmir has announced a Minimum Support Price (MSP) for Geographical Indication (GI)-certified hand-made Pashmina shawls “to sustain the old techniques”.

• Earlier, the Kashmir saffron got GI tag status.

Key Points

• About Kashmiri Shawls:
  
  • Shawls are produced by two techniques, loom woven or kani shawls and the needle embroidered or sozni shawls.
  • The basic fabric is of the three types - Shah Tush, Pashmina and Raffal.
  • Shah Tush (King of wool) passes through a ring and is also known as Ring shawl. It comes from a rare Tibetan antelope living at a height of over 14000 ft in the wilds of the Himalayas.
  • Pashmina is known world over as cashmere wool, it comes from a special goat (Capra hircus) living at an altitude of 12000 to 14000 ft.
  • Raffal is spun out of merino wool tops and is a popular type of shawl.
• Geographical Indication (GI) Certification:
  
  • About:
    
    • GI is an indication used to identify goods having special characteristics originating from a definite geographical territory.
      
      • It is used for agricultural, natural and manufactured goods.
    • The Geographical Indications of Goods (Registration and Protection) Act, 1999 seeks to provide for the registration and better protection of geographical indications relating to goods in India.
    • It is also a part of the World Trade Organisation’s Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS).
  • Administered By:
    
    • The Controller General of Patents, Designs and TradeMarks- who is the Registrar of Geographical Indications.
      
      • The Geographical Indications Registry is located at Chennai.
  • Validity of Registration:
    
    • The registration of a geographical indication is valid for a period of 10 years.
    • It can be renewed from time to time for a further period of 10 years each.

Source: TH