Above: Nutmeg

By the Caribbean Journal staff

Grenada will hold a national consultation on Friday on the concept of geographical indications for the country’s signature products like nutmeg and cocoa.

The World Intellectual Property Organization recently identified Grenadian nutmeg among six products that could receive technical assistance toward achieving a geographical indication.

Geographical indications identify a good as “originating in the territory of a member, or a region or locality in that territory, where the given reputation or other characteristic of the good is essentially attributable to its geographical origin,” according to the Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights Agreement of 1994, for example, rhum from Martinique.

“It is the hope of the organizers that these products, especially Grenada’s Nutmeg and cocoa which already have international reputations for top quality, will get the necessary support from stakeholders in the agriculture and tourism sectors,” the government said in a statement.

The consultation is being organized by CAIPO, Ministry of Legal Affairs with the support of the European Union Support Services Unit in the Ministry of Finance, the government said.

The plan is for the GI to ultimately meet the requirements of the EC-CARIFORUM EPA.