The hilsa fish has been recognised as a unique product of Bangladesh and been given the geographical indication (GI) tag. It is the only the second product to get the GI tag after jamdani sari.
According to the World Intellectual Property Organisation, GI is a sign used on products that have a specific geographical origin and possess qualities or a reputation that are due to that origin. Now, hilsa, the national fish of Bangladesh, will be registered internationally as a fish of Bangladesh, the Daily Star reported.
Sanowar Hossain, registrar of the department of patents, designs and trademarks (DPDT), said they completed all procedures to register hilsa as a GI product of Bangladesh. The government has published a journal on hilsa. According to the rules, if no country raises any objections within two months of publishing the journal, then the product will get the GI title, according to the Star.
The DPDT published the journal on June 1, and the deadline for getting objection ended on July 31.
