Coffee is one of the most important agricultural commodities for Indonesia either as an income source for millions of farming households or for foreign exchange earnings. The country produces a number of specialty coffees from different geographical origins having a distinctive cup taste profile. This paper provides an overview of the experience of Indonesia in establishing a geographical indication (GI) protection system from the starting point to the present progress. It draws on a pilot project that successfully implemented the GI protection system for Arabica coffee in the Kintamani highlands of Bali, which led to the first GI protection certificate for Kintamani Bali Arabica coffee being issued by the Directorate General for Intellectual Property Rights. One of the benefits of GI certification that the author notes in his overview is the increased price of Arabica coffee produced by farmers, which rose from around US$0.70 per kg to around US$3.10 per kg, resulting in an increase in farmer's income. According to the author, implementation of GI protection in Indonesia is moving forward gradually, with new applications from several origin products.

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