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Nepal logo relief for Darjeeling Tea

Nepal logo relief for Darjeeling Tea

Vivek Chhetri, TT, Feb 11, 2018, Darjeeling: Nepal has decided to give a distinct trademark to its orthodox tea - a move that is expected to put an end to the practice of the Nepal brew being passed off as Darjeeling Tea.

The trademark plus logo will be prepared by Nepal's National Tea and Coffee Development Board.

The Nepal orthodox tea is cultivated in the country's Illam, Dhankuta, Panchathar and Terathum districts - which are contiguous to the Darjeeling hills.

Sheshkanta Gautam, the executive director of Nepal's tea and coffee board, told The Telegraph over the phone from Kathmandu on Sunday: "We are in the process of launching a trademark and logo for our tea and have come up with a code-of-conduct that will cover every aspect of the production and deal with worker's welfare."

The trademark and the logo will be officially launched by Nepal president Bidhya Devi Bhandari at the four-day international tea festival to be held in Kathmandu from April 6, said Gautam.

"The objective is to create a distinct identity of Nepal tea on the international market," he added.

The logo comprises a symbol representing two mountains and words: Nepal Tea - Quality from the Himalayas.

B.K. Mohan, the chairman of the Darjeeling Tea Association, told The Telegraph over the phone from Calcutta: "If Nepal tea goes as Nepal tea, it is good for us. If they can control the sale of Nepal tea from Nepal and if it comes with a logo, it is good for us."

He said the Nepal tea had made an impact on the Darjeeling brew. "It (Nepal tea) has made a big impact as they come up with a similar type of tea and their costs are lower as it is not an organised sector as ours."

There are complaints that unscrupulous traders in India are passing off the Nepal tea as Darjeeling Tea. Even on international markets, there are reports that some importers are creating a separate brand called Himalayan Tea to sell the Nepal tea.

Earlier, blenders in the European Union countries were accused of mixing Darjeeling Tea with the Nepal tea.

However, the practice stopped since November 2016 after Darjeeling Tea was recognised as a Geographic Indicator product in the EU countries.

Nepal annually produces nearly 5 million kg of orthodox tea. The Himalayan country also produces CTC tea, but the logo will be applicable only to the orthodox tea.

"The trademark and logo are only for the orthodox tea. Almost 90 per cent of our orthodox tea is exported to Germany, Canada, the US and Russia and even to China and India," said Gautam.

Darjeeling on an average manufactures around 8 million kg of made-tea a year even though the production was less by 65 per cent in 2017 because of the Gorkhaland shutdown.

"As far as quality is concerned, the Nepal tea cannot be matched with Darjeeling Tea. Our quality is superior and technology is better. They pluck tea leaves once in a fortnight, we do it every seven days...However, Indian consumers must be conscious and buy the genuinely Darjeeling Tea," said Mohan.

The first tea estate in Nepal was established at Illam in 1863. However, the industry started off only from the late 1970s.

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