Geographical Indications in Trade Commodities for Promoting Sustainable Economic Development in Indonesia

Abstract

The recent COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted many countries. It leads them to imbalance conditions in various sectors, particularly in the economic sector due to the shifting of people's habits. Amidst the recession, Indonesian local horticulture commodities increase in rates, supporting Indonesia's revenue. In Indonesia, abundant natural resources with numerous potential Geographical Indications (GI) need the government and other related parties' intense role. It currently results in weakness in many ways to support sustainable economic development. This study aims to discuss the protection of Geographical Indications both in national and international laws, and analyze certain vital steps to efficiently utilizing Indonesia's GI as trade commodities. The paper will mainly discuss Geographical Indication legal protection and ways to utilize it for the country's economy. The study finds that the legal protection of GI in Indonesia is still considered weak and lacks in parties' active involvement in managing GI-based trade commodities and products. The research concluded that to strengthen GI protection in Indonesia, related party involvement and continuous monitoring and promoting are necessary to be done. Furthermore, the advice is to increase local community awareness by government and non-governmental organizations toward GI potential. It includes developing an efficient protection and management system that fully maximized each party's ability to execute its responsibility.
 KEYWORDS: Geographical Indications, Intellectual Property, Economic Development.

Effectiveness, Problems, and Transformation of Geographical Indications in the Context of Rural Revitalization: Evidence from Pengshui in Chongqing

“…Following a study of GIs in Indonesia, it was observed that government involvement should be progressive, and effective policies on GIs should be formulated. In the management of GIs, it is necessary for local governments to play an active role and introduce more effective policies according to local conditions [6]. Effectively play the supervisory role of government departments, strengthen the guidance work on the use of GI trademarks, and eliminate its usage for low-quality and non-original products.…”

“…This also encourages the development of the industrial sector beyond administrative borders, the expansion and strengthening of the agricultural sector, and the development of the region [29]. For example, Brazil has established Local Productive Agreements (LPAs) as one of the types of agreements for GI management through effective agreements to support the cooperation of economic, social, and political actors in a given economic project [6]. For the same GI covering several provinces, industrial organizations, companies, manufacturing bases, farmers, and so on, form an industrial alliance for the GI to jointly create, protect, apply, manage, and provide services for the GI.…”

“…Indonesia relied on GI products for export growth during the new coronavirus outbreak. GI practices in a growing number of ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) countries have also demonstrated the ability of GIs to drive economic development in local communities and improve the living standards of their inhabitants [6].…”

“…Although China has three regulatory systems for GIs, only the Trademark Law is the national law, and the regulatory documents in the other systems are departmental regulations, which have a lower degree of effectiveness. Some scholars have commented that China's non-unified GI protection system may weaken legal protection because it conflicts and overlaps [6]. In most countries, among branches of intellectual property law, GIs most closely resemble trademark law, and the regulation of GIs generally belongs to the branch of trademark law [6].…”

“…Some scholars have commented that China's non-unified GI protection system may weaken legal protection because it conflicts and overlaps [6]. In most countries, among branches of intellectual property law, GIs most closely resemble trademark law, and the regulation of GIs generally belongs to the branch of trademark law [6]. In the case of China, based on administrative incentives, grassroots governments and autonomous organizations encourage producers to apply for three types of GIs.…”