12 companies certified with orthodox tea trademark

September 22, 2020, 01:54:10 PM |

KATHMANDU: Two years after a trademark was developed for Nepalese orthodox tea,12 Nepalese tea companies will be authorized to use the trademark while marketing their product in the world market.

Minister for Agriculture and Livestock Development,Ghanashyam Bhusal,will be handing over the trademark certificates to the 12 tea companies in Fikkal, Ilam today. With this, the certified companies can now use the trademark with the logo, ‘Nepal Tea – Quality from the Himalayas’.

According to the ministry, 12 out of the total 42 companies that had applied for the trademark have been certified in the first phase.

The trademark accompanied by the logo was drafted three years back in 2017.The Nepalese orthodox tea certification was prepared as per the Trademark Implementation Directive, 2017. To use the trademark, tea producers must apply for the same at the board and have to meet the criteria set by the board.

Indra Prasad Adhikari, regional head at the National Tea and Coffee Development Board, said the 12 companies can now export orthodox Nepalese tea with the logo in the world market.

With the implementation of the trademark, reliability of Nepalese tea will increase in the world market, said Udaya Chapagain, advisor of Nepal Tea Planters Association. He said that Nepalese tea will be able to compete in the world market for the first time since Gajraj Singh Thapa started producing tea in Nepal by planting tea brought from China 157 years ago.

Chapagain added that it is a boon for farmers, traders and industrialists because Nepalese tea will be recognized as quality tea that has been produced in the country itself and will be able to compete with other brands like Darjeeling tea.

There are 100 small and medium scale tea factories in Nepal and they have to now manufacture tea within the rules and parameters prescribed for the trademark. Even though the government of Nepal has endorsed the trademark, now it is a challenge for the industrialists to implement it, said Chapagain.

He further said that tea with Nepal’s own trademark can be exported to the European market only after the application to use the trademark has been approved by the German Tea Association in the European Union.

Exports of CTC and orthodox tea through the Mechi customs in Province 1 has been increasing in recent years. As per recent data, two million kg of CTC and one million kg of orthodox tea were exported through the border.