Pakistan hails Australian court ruling on Basmati rights.
ISLAMABAD, August 12, 2026: Pakistan has welcomed a decision by the Federal Court of Australia dismissing an appeal filed by India’s Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA) over its attempt to register the word “Basmati” as a certification trademark for rice.
The Australian court also ordered APEDA to pay the respondent’s costs, as agreed or taxed, according to Pakistan’s Ministry of Commerce.
APEDA had sought to register “Basmati” as a certification trademark in Australia. However, a Delegate of the Australian Registrar of Trade Marks rejected the application on December 22, 2022, ruling that the term could not distinguish rice certified by APEDA from Basmati rice legitimately produced and marketed by other traders.
APEDA subsequently challenged the decision before the Federal Court of Australia. The court’s dismissal of the appeal effectively upholds the earlier findings that Basmati rice is also grown in Pakistan and that Pakistani traders have a legitimate right to use the term.
Pakistan’s Ministry of Commerce described the ruling as a significant development in its long-standing position that Basmati is associated with a historically recognised growing region spanning parts of Pakistan and India.
The ministry said the decision supports Pakistan’s position that no single national authority should claim exclusive rights over the Basmati name to the exclusion of producers and exporters from the other country.
Pakistan has consistently opposed efforts to secure exclusive international rights over the Basmati name and has worked with relevant national institutions and stakeholders to protect the interests of its growers, millers and exporters.
Federal Minister for Commerce Jam Kamal Khan praised ministry officials and stakeholders for their coordinated efforts, describing the ruling as an important achievement for Pakistan’s agricultural heritage, commercial interests and export identity.
