JAMAICA is the first country in the English-speaking Caribbean to register a geographical indication (GI).

Speaking at this week’s

Jamaica Observer Monday Exchange about plans for Intellectual Property Week to be observed next week, Lillyclaire Bellamy, executive director of the Jamaica Intellectual Property Organisation (JIPO) told editors and reporters that since 2015, the country has a registered GI for Jamaica Jerk.

“People always say we take forever to pass laws but the difference with us is when we pass our laws we use them. The rest of the English-speaking Caribbean all had laws to protect geographical indications from ‘whoie whoie’. Not one of them did anything with it.

“We passed our laws and regulations and everything was completed by 2009, and in 2015 we registered the first geographical indication in the entire English-speaking Caribbean, which is Jamaica Jerk,” Bellamy said.

According to the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO), a 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.

WIPO further states that in order to function as a GI, a sign must identify a product as originating in a given place, plus the qualities, characteristics or reputation of the product should be essentially due to the place of origin. Also, since the qualities depend on the geographical place of production, there is a clear link between the product and its place of origin.

Bellamy explained that because of the stipulations, the Jamaica Jerk Producers’ Association was formed, which also gave birth to the Jamaica Pepper Farmers Association.

“In Jamaican terms, you had very large producers and very small producers coming together to form the Jamaica Jerk Producers’ Association. The thing with geographical indication is, every product that goes into the item has to come from the country, so every product in Jamaica Jerk has to come from Jamaica,” Bellamy said.

She added: “If there is a drought, you can’t import peppers. If there is a drought, they can’t import thyme. It comes down to having a distinctive and unique product that is truly Jamaican. For the product to be authentically Jamaica Jerk, every single ingredient, with the exception of things that are not Jamaican, has to be Jamaican. We are in a small community, so if you import an ingredient, someone will talk and you won’t be able to put a protected GI on it.”

Moreover, having a GI right, according to WIPO, enables those who have the right to use the indication to prevent its use by a third party whose product does not conform to the applicable standards.

According to Bellamy, this would mean that in jurisdictions where the Jamaica Jerk is protected, producers of jerk can exclude use of Jamaica for jerk that is not produced according to the standards set out in the code of practice for the GI.

Meanwhile, Bellamy said while JIPO works closely with the Rural Agricultral Development Agency — as most of Jamaica’s potential GI are agriculturally-based — there is a second application in process for the registration of a GI in rum, as stakeholders are concerned that the basis of the rum industry remains in Jamaica because it forms a critical part of the local industry.

Intellectual Property Week will run from April 26 to 29 under the theme ‘Intellectual Property in the Digitised Age: Creativity, Culture, Piracy and Awareness’.

Features of the week include a copyright seminar on the Marrakesh and Beijing Treaties for the Disabled and Visually Impaired Communities and the public destruction of pirated products or material in conjunction with the Counter-Terrorism and Organised Crime branch of the Jamaica Constabulary Force.