Ilam, February 5, 2018: After 154 years of tea cultivation, Nepal’s traditional tea has finally got an international trademark and its own logo in the international market. After numerous attempts of the Nepal Tea and Coffee Development Board, organizations associated with tea production, and experts in the field, Nepali tea has received its own logo and trademark. Before getting an international trademark, Nepali tea was being sold under the logo of Darjeeling, India.
The logo comprises an image of mountains with ‘Nepali Tea Quality from the Himalayas’ written below it. Ministry of Agricultural Development, with the support of Himalaya Tea Producers Association and Nepal Tea and Coffee Development Board, has developed the logo and logo implementation directive. The Ministry has issued ‘Nepali Orthodox Tea Certification Trademark Implementation Directive 2074’ for the implementation of the logo.
Chandra Bhusan Subba, a tea expert involved in the development of the logo and directive of the tea mentioned that the tea production standards, employment security of the workers and sensitivity towards environmental protection must be met in order to use the logo. As per the directive, the produced tea must be fully organic, the tea producers wanting to use the logo must submit an application and after the application, a process to trademark the tea will move forward.
The logo inauguration process is set to be held in the base camp of Mt Everest. Bigger scale buyers and world’s journalists are scheduled to attend the logo inauguration event at the Mt Everest Base Camp.
Nepal’s oldest and historical tea factory resides in Ilam.Tea cultivation first incepted in Ilam in 1920 BS and a factory had been set up in 1935 BS for the tea production in Nepal.