Assam Orthodox tea set to get coveted GI status

The Orthodox variety of Assam tea will get geographical indication (GI) status by December 2004, according to Union minister of state for commerce and power, Jai Ram Ramesh. A geographical indication is a name or a sign used on certain products, which corresponds to a specific geographical location or origin. ?The GI process for Assam orthodox tea is finally on the move. Within three months, it will get GI status,? Ramesh said.

The Patent Information Center (PIC) of the Assam Science, Technology and Environment Council (ASTEC) and the Tea Board of India started separate ventures last year to secure GI rights for Assam tea with the GI registry in Chennai. The Tocklai experimental station supplied information to the PIC on the specifics of getting geographical indication. In India, after Darjeeling Tea, the Orthodox variety of Assam Tea will get the GI status, Ramesh said.

Ramesh said that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh would sign the Indo-Asean FTA in December. The negotiation on goods has provided adequate safeguards to sensitive agri-products although the tariff line for a number of products has been eliminated. ?For tea, the import duty has been brought down from 100%, to 45%,? Ramesh said.

He said that Indian tea has started gaining its share of market in Egypt and Iraq. Exports to Pakistan and Iran are already on the increase. India is expected to export 15 million kg of tea to Egypt, 20 million kg to Iraq as against 2 million kg in 2007. Tea exports will rise to 15 million kg to Pakistan in 2008 as against 10 million kg in 2007, and in Iran this will go up to 5-7 million kg in 2008 from 3 million kg exported in 2007, Ramesh said.

Products like Darjeeling Tea, Kancheepuram silk, Mysore agarbathi, Madurai songudi, Coimbatore wet- grinders and Mysore sandalwood soap have been already granted GI registration.

After five years of the enactment of the Geographic Indications of Goods (Registration and Protection) Act that came into effect from September 2003, only nine products have been accorded the Geographical Indicator (GI) status.