Pennapa Hongthong
THE NATION Published on Nov 14, 2001


The government moved yesterday to protect the country's rights over jasmine rice by retaining two American lawyers to look into the possibility of taking legal action on two different conflicts in the United States.

Yanyong Puang-ratch, director-general of the Intellectual Property Department, said the Commerce Ministry was planning to sue the US Department of Agriculture for funding an experiment to breed an American version of Thai jasmine rice by a group led by Florida University Professor Chris Deren.

The lawsuit would be filed in the US Administrative Court.

Separately, the two lawyers would file a complaint to the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) against an American company, RiceTec Inc, for "implementing unfair trade" in registering a trademark for "Jasmati" rice as a "Texas-grown version of jasmine rice from Thailand", Yanyong said.

The FTC acts in the interest of all American consumers to prevent unfair and deceptive advertising.

RiceTec bred its so-called Jasmati rice from an Italian variety that has nothing to do with Thai jasmine rice - or even basmati rice for that matter. But Yanyong said the Jasmati trademark misled American consumers into believing that the grain was a crossbreed of two of Asia's best rice strains - jasmine from Thailand and basmati from India and Pakistan.

A recent market survey conducted by the Thai commercial attache in Washington revealed that more than half of consumers in the US bought Jasmati because they thought that it was related to jasmine and basmati rice, Yanyong said.

"This can be interpreted as unfair competition that harms the Thai rice industry as well as deceives consumers in the US," he added. The US Patent and Trademark Office granted a trademark for RiceTec's Jasmati rice in November 1993.

The two attorneys would also monitor other cases that could be considered as violations of Thailand's interests in jasmine rice, Yanyong said.

Deputy Commerce Minister Suvarn Walaisathien has initiated seven steps to tighten control over the exploitation of Thailand's jasmine rice by foreign firms.

One was to push for negotiations with the World Trade Organisation to amend its agreement on intellectual property to recognise "geographical indications" that allow countries to protect local products.

The recognition would prohibit other countries from calling their products "Thai jasmine rice" or "Thai silk" in the same way that makers of sparkling wines cannot use the name "champagne" if they are not produced in the Champagne region of France.

On 11 Dec 2003

  
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