Excelsior Correspondent
Srinagar, July 25: A day after Chief Minister Omar Abdullah assured action against the sale of machine made carpets, the Department of Handicrafts and Handloom, Kashmir today ordered all registered handicraft dealers to remove such products from their showrooms within seven days or face blacklisting and deregistration.
The department warned that dealers failing to comply will face action under the J&K Registration of Tourist Trade Act, 1978 and other relevant laws, terming the sale of imported machine made carpets-largely from Turkey and Iran-as an unfair trade practice.
As per the a directive issued in this regard, recent inspections found several dealers displaying and selling machine made products while misrepresenting them as genuine Kashmiri handicrafts.
Officials said such practices undermine the authenticity and reputation of Kashmir handicrafts.
The directive state that penalties have already been imposed on defaulters, and inspection teams comprising the Director Handicrafts and Handloom, Director IICT and the Quality Control Division have been visiting showrooms in areas such as Nishat, Nehru Park and Munawarabad to issue warnings.
As part of the registration process, dealers had submitted affidavits undertaking to display and sell only genuine handicraft products, directives state.
“The department has also introduced GI based QR labelling through PTQCC, IICT and Quality Control labs to curb misbranding.”
However, officials revealed that a dealer recently affixed a fake QR label on a machine made carpet, misrepresenting it as handmade.
That dealer has already been blacklisted and deregistered, officials said.
The notice issued directs all registered dealers to ensure their showrooms exclusively display and sell genuine handicraft products, with all GI labelling certificates and related documents prominently displayed for inspection.
Machine made products, officials stressed, are banned from being sold or displayed in showrooms registered under handicraft or handloom categories.
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