• Expects GI certification in 2025

Sri Lanka is set to submit an application seeking Geographical Indication (GI) for Ceylon Tea from the European Union (EU) shortly, with expectations to secure the GI certification for Ceylon Tea in 2025.
“We are about to submit the application. The deadline is April 30. We might get additional two days as a grace period. Everything is sorted out; it’s a matter of submitting the application now. However, it will take one to one and a half years for them to go through it and come and say that we have got the GI status,” Sri Lanka Tea Board (SLTB) Chairman Niraj De Mel told Mirror Business on the sidelines of a press briefing held in Colombo yesterday. 
The GI status is expected to grant legal protection to the Ceylon Tea brand against the misuses and frauds, given that a number of countries marketing blended teas under the Ceylon Tea brand in the EU. After awarding the GI status to Ceylon Tea, only the tea that meets the required specifications would be allowed to use the Ceylon Tea brand to sell in the EU. The GI certification serves to uphold and authenticate the quality, reputation and characteristics of a product by linking it to a specific territory through intellectual property protection, while also giving it added value in national and international markets. 
The Sri Lanka Atomic Energy Board, SLTB and Tea Research Institute of Sri Lanka, with the technical cooperation of the International Atomic Energy Agency, commenced the initial research and development activities for GIs for Ceylon Tea and regional teas, using stable isotope signatures along with the preparation of a database of black tea. 
In late 2021, the French Agency for Development extended a grant of one million euros to the SLTB for the development of a GI for Ceylon Tea, with the support of the French Agricultural Research Centre for International Development.
Recently, the Book of Specifications on the method and processes involved in the manufacture of Ceylon Tea in Sri Lanka was presented to the stakeholders.
After achieving the GI status, the Ceylon Tea value chain is expected to become more productive, inclusive and sustainable. Consequently, Ceylon Tea is expected to have enhanced added value in international markets through intellectual property protections and national and international certifications.
De Mel shared that the Sri Lankan authorities plan to apply for similar protection for Ceylon Tea in heavy tea drinking nations, including the Middle Eastern nations, Russia and other key markets, after securing the GI status from the EU. (NF)