The whole world now recognises the fact that this magical brew owes its unique eloquence to its place of origin, the misty
hills of Darjeeling.
Darjeeling Tea* has now been registered as G1 (
Geographical Indication) in India. Which officially places Darjeeling Tea in the esteemed company of a Cognac or a Champagne - other famous GIs.Art. 22.1 of the TRIPS agreement defines Geographical Indication as
….Indication which identify a good as originating in the territory of a member or a region or locality in that territory to where a given quality, reputation or other characteristic of the good is essentially attributable to the geographical origin.
The difference between Geographical Indication and Trade Mark are that the former indicates the source of the product, meaning the geographical jurisdiction from which the product has originated from and the later is a sign which is used in the course of trade and it distinguishes goods or services of one enterprise from those of other enterprises.
The unique geographical conditions of Darjeeling help make its teas such a rarity. Just the way Cognac and Champagne are rare because they can only come from specific regions of France.
Tea cultivation in Darjeeling is done in nearly 17,400 hectares in 85 tea gardens producing around 11.5 million kilograms of tea. The Darjeeling tea industry employs over 52,000 people on a permanent basis - a further 15,000 persons are engaged during the plucking season from March to November. More than 60 percent of this workforce are women.
A major portion of the annual production of Darjeeling tea is exported.While the tea industry in India is almost completely in the private sector, it is statutorily controlled by the government since 1933 under various enactments culminating in the Tea Act, 1953. The Tea Board was set up under the same Act. It is vested with the authority to administer all stages of tea; cultivation, processing and sale.
From 2000, over a period of four years, 171 companies dealing with Darjeeling tea have registered with the Tea Board, though the logo itself was registered in 1983. This was possible only after a compulsory registration system was put in place and also because trade in tea is better organised than handlooms. Certificates of Origin are then issued for export
consignments. Data is entered from the garden invoices (the first point of movement outside the factory) into a database, and export of each consignment of Darjeeling tea is authenticated by issue of the Certificates of Origin by crosschecking the details. This ensures the supply-chain integrity of Darjeeling tea until consignments leave the shores of India.
Customs authorities have instructed all Customs checkpoints to check for and ensure that Certificates of Origin accompany Darjeeling Tea consignments.Overseas importers are thus ensured of 100% authentic Darjeeling tea in all their consignments.Now with G1 certification Indian tea industry will benefit and it will give its long overdue recognition.