Tea gets global recognition:

Ceylon Cinnamon to get Geographical Indicators

Harshini PERERA

Ceylon Cinnamon will get registration for Geographical Indicators (GI) at the end of February next year.

Cinnamon

The Spice Council together with Export Development Board (EDB) has selected four logos for Ceylon Cinnamon, Spice Council Promotion and Development Officer Sidath Dinusha Alwis told Daily News Business.

Meanwhile, Sri Lanka registered Ceylon Tea as a Geographical Indicator locally under the National Intellectual Property Organization (NIPO) and expects to register with offshore tea packers in the future.

Sri Lanka Tea Board Promotions Director Hasitha de Alwis told Daily News Business that Sri Lanka has been using the lion logo as the trademark in the past and this will be the first time the Sri Lanka will be gaining GI registration for tea. It is also expected to get Geographical Indicators for Cinnamon in the future.

“This step will safeguard Ceylon Tea from misusing the origin in the international trade and claiming it as pure Ceylon Tea by foreign countries. “It will also improve exports of original and quality tea to the world market,” he said.

“This GI registration for intellectual property protection will give Ceylon Tea the needed protection and Sri Lanka needs to get registration with off shore packers that buy Ceylon Tea to prevent fake Ceylon Tea into the world market,” he said. “This initiative taken by the Ceylon Tea Board will limit the mixing of Ceylon Tea with cheap origins and give potential to improve selling original Ceylon Tea,” Asia Siyaka Commodities President Anil Cooke told Daily News Business.

Sri Lanka should handle this accurately because many countries misuse Ceylon Tea when they blend Ceylon Tea with less quality tea. Sri Lanka has been recognized for Ceylon Tea even though the production cost is high, Eswaran Brothers Exports Director Subramaniam Eassuwaren told Daily News Business.

Out of the four logos, one logo will be considered as a trademark after public circulation under the International Standards Organization (ISO).