After waiting for one-and-a-half years, India expects to get geographical indications (characteristics of a commodity peculiar to a specific growing region) of the famous Darjeeling tea registered with the European Commission (EC) in the next two months.
The Tea Board also hopes to wrap up registration of traders of the Darjeeling tea in the UK and Germany, where it is already protected under the GI norms, by April 2009.
GI identifies a product as originating from a region or locality in a territory, where a given quality, fame and other characteristic of the product are essentially attributable to its geographical origin.
“We have provided the online registration facility for traders, both from the UK and Germany. By April, the process may be over,” Tea Board Chairman, Mr Basudeb Banerjee said.
“We had also approached the EC in November 2007 to approve the GIs of the Darjeeling tea so that other European countries get to recognise them. I am optimistic of getting the permission in the next two months.”
However, the Board’s primary focus is on the registration of traders in the UK and Germany as both of them, among European countries are the major importers of the Darjeeling tea, Mr Banerjee added.
PTI
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