Crafting Market Opportunities through GIs: A Review on Spices of North-East India

The North-Eastern region of India is a biodiversity hotspot and home to many endemic and rare spices. The spices endemic to this region has vast scope in the national and international market owing to their uniqueness and organic quality. Geographical Indication (GI), a tag that recognises the unique intrinsic attributes of a product arising from specific geographical origin, is yet to be explored in its truest sense by the farmers of the region togain visibility and product differentiation in the market. Importance of GI tag is extremely high for the native farmers of the region to gain recognitionin foreign markets.The paper discusses the scope of using GI as a tool for brand building by the spice sector of this region ofIndia. It also examines a few instances where endemic spice varieties from the region have successfully undergone value addition and have been effectively marketed to create a promising presence both domestic and abroad.