KATHMANDU, Nepal – Nepal has registered the Nepal Coffee collective trademark in seven more markets—South Korea, Singapore, Japan, Norway, Switzerland, New Zealand and Hong Kong.
The brand had been registered only in the European Union (EU) previously. The Nepal Coffee Producers’ Association (NCPA), which has been authorised to register the trademark abroad, said that Nepali products received recognition in these countries in the last few months.
The brand is in the process of being registered in Australia and the US, as per the association. The government has so far spent Rs5 million on the registration process.
The registration of the Nepal Coffee collective trademark is expected to boost sales of the product in the international market.
NCPA President Shyam Bhandari said Nepal had registered the brand in the EU and seven other countries that are potentially big markets for the agro product.
The NCPA has been working to get the Nepal Coffee trademark registered in international markets while the Trade and Export Promotion Centre of the Commerce Ministry has been providing the funds under the recommendation of the National Tea and Coffee Development Board (NTCDB).
The association grants the Nepal Coffee logo to products that are organic and meet the other international quality standards.
“We issue the logo only to exporters whose products satisfy the requirements,” said Bhandari. He added that they had started collecting a levy from exporters to pay for the renewal of the collective trademark in the future.
Nepali coffee has been gaining popularity in the international market of late. According to Bhandari, the high quality Nepali product fetches up to $15 per kg, about the same as world class products from top coffee producing countries like Brazil.
Meanwhile, the NTCDB said it was yet to formulate a working guideline for the use of the Nepal Coffee brand even though three years have passed since the government approved the collective trademark.
“We are in the process of developing the guideline which is at the final stage,” said NTCDB Executive Director Shesh Kanta Gautam.
Gautam blamed the association for not abiding by the government rule concerning registration of the trade mark abroad.
“Neither has the association maintained transparency in the use of the funds provided nor has it produced authentic documents showing that the brand has been registered with the authorities.”
Nepal Trade Integration Strategy 2016 has identified Nepali coffee, popularly known as Himalayan beans, as one of the nine products having high export potential.
Gulmi, Palpa, Arghakhanchi, Lalitpur, Tanahu, Kavre, Sindhupalchok, Lamjung, Kaski, Gorkha, Syangja, Parbat and Baglung are the major coffee producing districts in the country.
