ESRC Project on Geographical Indications and Feni

1. ESRC Project on Geographical Indications and Feni Stakeholder’s Meeting Porvorim, Goa 5th April 2008 Dwijen Rangnekar Research Councils UK Academic Fellow and Asst. Professor in Law CSGR/Warwick

2. Introduction to the Project • Project title: Localising economic control through clubs: Examining the intellectual property protection of Feni • Funding Agency: Economic and Social Research Council (of UK govt.) • Project location: Warwick University, UK

3. The Research Team

4. The Research Methodology • Research Methods Baseline survey Interviews Focus groups Stakeholder meeting Archival research Legal research; case law Economic analysis

5. Research Approach Geographical Indications as Clubs ~ defined by the shared production method Raw Materials Land Animal breed Feed Plants Skills Production and/or Processing Stage(s) Distilling, blending Curing, pasteurisation and ripening Harvesting Handicrafts Final Product Stage Labels of Authenticity Thus, potential to localise economic control

6. The Champagne Club Area: defined in 1927 regulation, approx. 3% of area under vine production in France, about 33,000 hectares in 319 villages around Reims Grape varieties: only three varieties permitted Production and processing rules: some 35 rules on yields, pruning vines, growing and spacing of vines, hand-harvesting, aging process, etc. Quality control: through production and into post-production stages; 2000 – 5% not certified 13 Mar 08 – change in growing area, new areas included see property rents rise from €5,000/hectare to €1Mn/hectare

7. Research Approach • Making the club Incentives to join ~ clubs have membership rules and allow exclusion Physical interdependence ~ stakeholders depend on the same resource for livelihood • Matrix of competition Horizontal competition for market shares Vertical competition for share of rents • Different motivations to ‘make the club’ Inertia of stable transaction relations Inability to appropriate returns Size of operation

8. Research Questions • Club-Making How do different firms and individuals cooperate to make a GI-club? What factors motivate firms and individuals to overcome problems and cooperate? • Localising economic control How can the potential for GIs to localise economic control be maximised and are there other policy interventions that may help achieving these outcomes?

9. Project Outputs • Final Report & Policy Brief Focussing on the problems in establishing GI specifications for Feni and how these specifications may promote localised economic control; thus, identifying complementary policies to achieve local economic control. • Baseline Survey of the Feni Sector Involving 600+ questionnaires of stakeholders, identifying broad patterns throughout the supply chain for Feni of social and economic indicators. • Scholarly articles • Newspaper articles

10. Research Timeline • Fieldwork April-July 2007: interviews, focus group, baseline survey April-May 2008: interviews, stakeholder meeting • RAG Meetings First: April 2008 Second: January 2009 (tbc) • Research Report Draft: Nov. 2008 Final: Feb. 2009 • Project Dissemination Meetings Goa – March 2009 (tbc) Geneva – April 2009 (tbc)

11. More information • Project Website http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/fac/soc/csgr/research/projects/2007/protecting_feni/ • Contact details Centre for the Study of Globalisation and Regionalisation University of Warwick Coventry CV4 7AL, UK Telephone Goa/Delhi : 9970939193/9891267714 Telephone UK: +44 +24 7652 8906 Email: d.rangnekar@warwick.ac.uk