In an effort to promote indigenous and Geographical Identification (GI) tagged products, the first consignment of GI tagged sweet dish Mihidana sourced from Bardhaman, West Bengal has been exported to the Kingdom of Bahrain, according to a commerce ministry statement.

The consignment of unique sweet dish Mihidana was exported to Bahrain by APEDA registered M/S DM Enterprises, Kolkata and imported by Aljazira Group, Bahrain. The sweet dish from West Bengal is being displayed and also provided for tasting to consumers at Aljazira super stores in Bahrain. More consignments of the unique sweet dish would be exported to Bahrain during forthcoming Diwali festival.

In August, 2021, India Post released a special cover on West Bengal''s sweetmeats Mihidana and Sitabhog. West Bengal’s Bardhaman got the GI tag for the century-old sweetmeats in 2017.

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A GI tag is a sign denoting a specific geographical origin and possess qualities or a reputation that are due to that origin. GI, a form of intellectual property right (IPR), is distinct from other forms of IPR, as it ascribes the exclusivity to the community in a defined geography, rather than to an individual, as is in the case of trademarks and patents.

A GI tag can be issued for agricultural, natural or manufactured goods that have a unique quality, reputation or other characteristics attributable to its geographical origin. Darjeeling tea, Basmati rice, Kanchipuram Silk, Mysore Silk, Hyderabadi haleem, Nagaland chilli products, etc, sold with the GI tag have premium pricing.

APEDA is a government organisation which functions under the administrative control of the Ministry of Commerce. It undertakes market promotion activities for export of food products, market intelligence for making informed decisions, international exposure, skill development, capacity building and high-quality packaging.