The OAPI 2023-2027 Strategic Plan emphasises the organisation's resolve to prioritise the establishment, development and protection of Geographical Indications for products originating from OAPI member states.
Since the adoption of this strategic resolution, there has indeed been a rise in reports of geographical indication ("GI") registrations granted for several products from OAPI member states. Amongst others, the registration for Ivorian Café des Montagnes de Man ("Coffee of the Mountains of Man", grown in the Tonkpi region, in Western Ivory Coast), granted in 2023, that is expected to give the once formidable coffee industry of Ivory Coast a revived niche in the international market and a resurgence of coffee production activities in the region. More recently, in June 2024, Senegal celebrated the GI registration for The madd of Casamance, (Saba senegalensi), a wild fruit-producing plant that can be consumed raw and also used in the production of multiple other edible and medicinal products, and that is also expected to enhance economic participation of stakeholder communities in the country.
OAPI's strategy on the promotion and protection of GI's envisages the development of sustainable rural and economic development for GI registration owners and their immediate communities in which the various GI products are produced and their countries of origin, and thereby tackle challenges such as unemployment, food insecurity and poverty. The protection of the aforementioned GIs in Ivory Coast, Senegal and others, is in keeping with this strategy. While great effort and investment will no doubt be required for the success of the GI products in the trade and international markets, OAPI's endeavors in pushing the GI protection agenda are to be commended.
SOURCE:
Geographical Indications (fao.org)
Three Ivorian local products now labelled by the
OAPI
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