Anyone have any idea which estates?
 

Who are they protecting he

--Blair

Statesman News Service
DARJEELING, Dec. 28. - The Tea Board has proposed the formation of a
'stakeholders' coordination committee to put an end to smuggling of
green leaf from Nepal by some Darjeeling tea gardens located in the
Mirik area.
The errant tea gardens mix their leaf with cheap Nepal leaf and pass it
off as Darjeeling tea, which is a violation of the newly instituted
Geographical Indicator Act as well as the older measure, Certified
Trade Mark (CTM) that Darjeeling tea as a product enjoys.
The Tea Board's move complements the efforts that the Darjeeling tea
industry has been making to protect its product in terms of an
intellectual property. The Geographical Indicator Act not only affords
Darjeeling tea an unprecedented level of protection but also obliges
the industry to protect the integrity of the manufacturing chain.
The formation of a stakeholders' committee was mooted by Tea Board
chairman, Mr Basudeb Banerjee, at a meeting of the industry in Siliguri
recently. Besides the management, the committee will comprise
representatives from the district administration, law enforcement
agencies like the police and central excise, Tea Board officials and
the trade unions, said Mr Sundeep Mukerjee, branch secretary,
Darjeeling Tea Association (DTA).
The committee will also look into "all other relevant interests of
the industry," he added.
The committee will monitor the movement of green tea leaf in the
region. According to industry sources, the main violators are three tea
estates in the Mirik area which borders Nepal. The violating gardens
claim that they are procuring green leaf from closed tea gardens of
Darjeeling, when they are actually buying from Nepal.

Anyone have any idea which estates?
 

Blair P. Houghton > wrote:
>Who are they protecting he

The problem is that there is a _lot_ of tea sold as Darjeeling that
really isn't.

Much of that tea is made in India. Some comes from Nepal. But the
tea growers in Darjeeling are just starting to get upset about the
possible dilution of the brand.

I think the example of "California Bordeaux" should be taken as warning.
--scott

--
"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."

Anyone have any idea which estates?
 

Hi Blair,

The subject is much more complex than what is generally assumed:

-some of the Nepal teas can be as good or even better as a lot of
Darjeeling teas.Who is to judge?
-the Darjeeling growers are unnecessarily concerned if they produce
the quality they do.
- the market and ultimately the consumer ist to decide what is a good tea.
- the whole talk about integrity and quality is just a cloud to divert
attention from the fact that the growers want to get a larger piece
of the assumedly large pie.
-the Nepalese teas are going to be very successful if they do their job
right.

best

Blair P. Houghton schrieb:
> Who are they protecting he
>
> --Blair
>
> Statesman News Service
> DARJEELING, Dec. 28. - The Tea Board has proposed the formation of a
> 'stakeholders' coordination committee to put an end to smuggling of
> green leaf from Nepal by some Darjeeling tea gardens located in the
> Mirik area.
> The errant tea gardens mix their leaf with cheap Nepal leaf and pass it
> off as Darjeeling tea, which is a violation of the newly instituted
> Geographical Indicator Act as well as the older measure, Certified
> Trade Mark (CTM) that Darjeeling tea as a product enjoys.
> The Tea Board's move complements the efforts that the Darjeeling tea
> industry has been making to protect its product in terms of an
> intellectual property. The Geographical Indicator Act not only affords
> Darjeeling tea an unprecedented level of protection but also obliges
> the industry to protect the integrity of the manufacturing chain.
> The formation of a stakeholders' committee was mooted by Tea Board
> chairman, Mr Basudeb Banerjee, at a meeting of the industry in Siliguri
> recently. Besides the management, the committee will comprise
> representatives from the district administration, law enforcement
> agencies like the police and central excise, Tea Board officials and
> the trade unions, said Mr Sundeep Mukerjee, branch secretary,
> Darjeeling Tea Association (DTA).
> The committee will also look into "all other relevant interests of
> the industry," he added.
> The committee will monitor the movement of green tea leaf in the
> region. According to industry sources, the main violators are three tea
> estates in the Mirik area which borders Nepal. The violating gardens
> claim that they are procuring green leaf from closed tea gardens of
> Darjeeling, when they are actually buying from Nepal.
>

Anyone have any idea which estates?
 

Ironically, it's the French (indeed the entire world) who owe America
for their wine:

http://www.wampumkeeper.com/wineblight.html

--Blair