Darjeeling Tea may become the first agriculture product to get the Geographical Indication (GI) status from the European Commission.
In its efforts to promote Darjeeling Tea in the global market, the Tea Board has applied before the European Commission an for registration of Darjeeling Tea as GI under ECR 510.
Union commerce officials said a tea delegation from India submitted the application in Brussels on November 12.
However, it may take another two years or so before the EU registration would be available.
Again, applications for protection of orthodox teas produced in Assam and Nilgiris in the domestic market had also been submitted to the registry office in Chennai.
It is not possible to obtain international protection without first having secured protection in the country of origin.
The domestic protection for Darjeeling tea was obtained a few years ago.
The domestic protection for the tea produced in Kangra Valley in Himachal Pradesh, too, had already been obtained.
However, no decision had been taken with regard to obtaining international protection for it, presumably because the volume of exports of Kangra Valley tea was insignificant.
According to Darjeeling Tea Association, in 1986 the Darjeeling logo was created and registered in the UK, the US, Japan, Canada and Egypt, and under the Madrid Agreement also covering Germany, Austria, Spain, France, Portugal, Italy, Switzerland and former Yugoslavia.
The identification of opportunity to establish Darjeeling Tea as a GI came after the TRIPS Agreement of 1994. The initiative started in 2004 when Darjeeling tea was registered as GI as Sl No. 1&2.
Tea Board fought more than 15 cases against infringement and misuse of Darjeeling Tea in the last four years, including one in Sri Lanka.
