KATHMANDU – The Nepali government plans to register a collective trademark for Nepali tea and coffee, reports the Himalayan News Service. This follows the successful registration of the ‘Chyangra Pashmina’ trademark in the international market.
“We need to register a collective trademark for tea and coffee, which will ensure that inferior quality products are not sold in the international market with the Nepali brand,” said joint secretary at the ministry of commerce and supplies (MoCS) Jib Raj Koirala.
According to him, the ministry, along with representatives from National Tea and Coffee Development Board (NTCDB), is currently trying to develop effective plans before initiating the trademark registration process.
Due to repeated complaints from exporters regarding the export of fake pashmina, the Nepali Pashmina Industries Association with government support, had started the trademark registration process of ‘Chyangra Pashmina’ in the international market. At present, the trademark is registered in 41 countries and efforts are ongoing to register it in a few other countries too.
Nepali tea and coffee are domestically registered as ‘Nepal Tea’ and ‘Nepal Coffee’. “We are trying to register the ‘Nepal Tea’ and ‘Nepal Coffee’ trademark in the international market but due to some complications in the fund allocation for ‘Nepal Coffee’ the process is being delayed,” said an official at board.
MoCS had earlier allocated a budget of Rs 3.4 million for registration of ‘Nepal Coffee’ but due to some issues the budget is yet to be used in the process, said official.
According to experts, trademark registration at the local and international level creates awareness about the products and discourages the export of inferior quality products.
Recent statistics of NTCDB state that tea is planted in a total area of 18,449 hectares as estimated in 2011-12, with production volume of 18.3 million kg. Meanwhile, total production of coffee in 2011-12 was 523,000 kg, which is done in 1760 hectares of land.
Tea is also included in the Nepal Trade Integration Strategy 2010 priority product list. According to annual statistics of Trade and Export Promotion Centre, total export of tea in 2012-13 increased by 29.8 per cent as compared to last year.
Source: Himalayan News Service
