There are products that have characteristics and value because of the region where they are produced. This is the case, in Brazil, of laces produced in the Northeast, the wines of the Serra Gaúcha, Minas Gerais cheeses or açaí from the states that are part of the Amazon.
Due to the specific qualities related to the origin of their production, these items can receive a distinctive sign, a kind of seal that attests to the particularity, called Indicação Geográfica (IG) [Geographical Indication]. This sign can add value to products, benefit producers and consumers and preserve traditional modes of production.
The IG is granted by the Instituto Nacional de Propriedade Industrial (INPI) [National Institute of Industrial Property]. In Brazil, 119 IGs have already been recognized since 2002. Only 18 of them are products from the Amazonian states.
AMAZONIAN PRODUCTS
Of the nine states in the Amazon, six have products with IGs. Amazonas has eight; Pará, four; Rondônia, three; Acre, two; and Tocantins and Roraima both have one. There are no products with the distinctive sign in Amapá, Mato Grosso and Maranhão, although there are already processes underway to obtain it. The item from the region that obtained registration with the INPI was the Capim Dourado handicraft from Jalapão, in Tocantins, in 2011.
Of the 18 IGs in the region, several are for products considered typical of the biome, such as cassava flour, açaí, cocoa, guarana or Amazonian fish. In Pará, the four products with Geographical Indication are: cocoa from Tomé-Açu, a title obtained in 2019; waraná and waraná stick (native guarana) from the Andirá-Marau Indigenous Land, registered in 2020; and cheese from Marajó and flour from Bragança, both granted in 2021. The waraná IG is shared with the state of Amazonas, since the indigenous territory is on the border.
IGs attest to peculiarities of products
According to Sheila Souza, master in Intellectual Property and Innovation from the National Institute of Industrial Property (INPI) and in Intellectual Property and Technology Transfer for Innovation from the Federal Institute of Pará (IFPA), a Geographical Indication attests that a product is very characteristic of a region. “It can be associated with the climate, the altitude, or the people of the place that make it different, unique,” she explains.
She points out that there are two types of GIs: Indication of Origin (IP) and Denomination of Origin (DO). “Indications of Origin are related to the fame and notoriety of that product, such as Bragança flour or Marajó cheese. Denominations of Origin are related to the geographical characteristics that make that product distinct, as is the case of waraná from the Andirá-Marau Indigenous Land,” she explains.
The characteristics associated with the specific geographic environment can be both natural and human factors. Among the Amazonian IGs, only three are Designations of Origin: the waraná, the managed pirarucu from Mamirauá, in the Amazon, and the Amazonian Robusta coffee beans, from the forests of Rondônia.
GARANTEE AND PROTECTION
For Sheila Souza, the IG values the product and provides guarantees to both the producer and the consumer. “When we go to the market, we see that Bragança flour is a little more expensive than the others. The justification of the market seller is that Bragança flour is better. However, we often see people selling flour saying that it is from Bragança when, in fact, it is not. The consumer is deceived and misled,” she points out.
Likewise, without the IG, the producer does not have the necessary protection. “When it does not have recognition, the Bragança collective cannot prohibit others from using its Geographical Indication improperly. So, with the recognition made by the INPI, it has a legal instrument that allows it to prohibit others who are not part of that conglomerate of municipalities from saying that it is Bragança flour”, he explains. The Geographical Indication of Bragança flour includes not only the municipality that names it, but also Augusto Corrêa, Santa Luzia do Pará, Tracuateua and Viseu.
Indication seals boost the economy in the Amazon
With the notoriety boosted by the Geographical Indication, not only the product’s own chain is being moved, but also other sectors of the economy. “We have a very good example in the case of Marajó cheese. After the Geographical Indication was recognized, a productive arrangement involving tourism began to take place there. There is a businesswoman who owns a guesthouse, another one has a van, another one makes regional shirts, another one has a farm that produces cheese. They organize themselves to offer several services: one hosts guests, another one takes guests to the beach in the van, another one receives guests at the farm for afternoon coffee with Marajó cheese, to meet the buffaloes, to live the experience of being in Marajó. This increase, with the sale of this experience, has had a financial impact, even more than the sale of the cheese itself”, says Sheila Souza.
According to the specialist “With the IG, there was an increasingly interest in cheese, because it became more famous than it already was. So, this production arrangement ends up being better organized, producing more, selling more. Now, with the IG, the product is a little more expensive, and this is an advantage to the producer and to the region, because it generates local development”.
ADDED VALUE
Owner of one of the farms that produces Marajó cheese, Gabriela Gouvêa confirms the benefits of the IG. “When we received this recognition, we started another activity, in tourism. We were able to add more value to the product, not only through the sale itself, but by linking it to other services. This tripled our sales”, she reports.
In Amazonas, one of the IGs is the açaí from the municipality of Codajás. Even with the recent recognition, in March this year, the Geographical Indication is already bringing good results to producers. According to one of them, Francisco Dantas, demand for the product has increased, as well as the sale price.
“With the IG process, we participated in training and fairs, and we restored the value and identity of the açaí from Codajás. We also improved the handling, hygiene and transportation issues. This led to an improvement in the price. It added a little more value to the fruit. Today, it is in high demand, especially in the Manaus market. We notice this difference when we participate in fairs, because it has become a new scenario”, celebrates the producer.
CHALLENGES
Despite all the potential benefits of obtaining a Geographical Indication, there are some challenges for new Amazonian products to achieve recognition. “Today, we have a very small number of Geographical Indications when compared to the South and Southeast. This is related to access to information, the existence of few professionals to work in the area and logistical difficulties in reaching the municipalities”, says Sheila Souza.
Françoan Dias, master in Intellectual Property and Technology Transfer for Innovation from the Federal University of Amazonas (UFAM), confirms the region’s difficulties. “The Amazon still has relatively few geographical indications, and there are several factors related to this. We can mention logistical factors and the lack of adequate infrastructure. There is also the issue of the lower visibility of Amazonian products in the national and international markets. And there is also the issue of the complexity of the processes to obtain recognition, because registration with the INPI is somewhat bureaucratic. The South and Southeast have a significant number of products with Geographical Indication, with a tradition of production and support from local institutions, while the Amazon is in a process of consolidation in this sense”, he analyzes.
The scenario for the future of Amazon products is positive
But the specialist believes that there are good prospects for the future, with institutional support and access to information. “Amazonas is the state in the region with the largest number of Geographical Indications and I think this is due to the actions of government institutions. There is the Superintendência do Ministério da Agricultura e Pecuária [Superintendence of the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock], which coordinates local Geographical Indications. There is the Secretaria de Produção Rural [Secretariat of Rural Production], which provides training and promotes IGs. And the Serviço Brasileiro de Apoio às Micro e Pequenas Empresas - Sebrae Amazonas [Brazilian Micro and Small Business Support Service – Unit Amazonas] is essential for diagnosing potential IGs in the state and providing support for IGs that are already registered,” he says.
“We also have to highlight that associations and cooperatives are increasingly aware of the importance of this recognition. Often, they themselves seek out the bodies to start the process,” adds Dias.
The researcher points out that, as many products are associated with the region's biodiversity, obtaining the IG also encourages more sustainable practices. “This ends up contributing to the preservation of the forest, the generation of jobs and income for the communities involved and the appreciation of local knowledge,” he points out.
FORUM
As a way of assisting producers in recognizing IGs and organizing the production chain, several states have State Forums for Geographical Indications and Collective Brands, made up of government and research institutions, as well as associations and cooperatives. In Pará, the Forum was created in 2016, with the aim of establishing a State Program to Encourage Geographical Indications and Collective Brands in the State of Pará, which was determined by law in May 2024.
According to agricultural engineer Márcia Tagore, current coordinator of the Pará Forum, the Program aims to provide support during the three phases of recognition of the Geographical Indication: before, with the necessary diagnoses; during, for recognition by the INPI; and after, with incentives for the promotion of products and solving weaknesses in the production chains.
"I believe that Geographical Indications and Collective Brands are potential instruments that provide to the society knowledge and appreciation of local culture. They are important indicators of the potential of territories, because they point to the richness of our bioeconomy", she declares.
INSTITUTIONAL PARTNERSHIP
The production of Liberal Amazon is one of the initiatives of the Technical Cooperation Agreement between the Liberal Group and the Federal University of Pará. The articles involving research from UFPA are revised by professionals from the academy. The translation of the content is also provided by the agreement, through the research project ET-Multi: Translation Studies: multifaces and multisemiotics.
