Modern Biopiracy Cases
Darjeeling tea: India's first GI
2004Tea Board of IndiaGeographical Indications Act (1999)Bengal
2004
Darjeeling tea became the first Indian product to receive a Geographical Indication.
- Dated
- 2004
- As scholars put it
- 2004
- Originator
- Tea Board of India
- Source text
- Geographical Indications Act (1999)
- Region
- Bengal
- Discipline
- Modern Biopiracy Cases
- Evidence
- Documented
- Confidence
- High
- Verification
- Reference-cited
Background
Tea has been grown in the Darjeeling hills since the mid-19th century. Before legal protection, far more tea was sold worldwide as 'Darjeeling' than the region produced. The Tea Board of India registered the Darjeeling name and logo under the new Geographical Indications Act in 2004.
Significance
The first product registered as a geographical indication in India, and in 2011 the first Indian product registered as a Protected Geographical Indication in the European Union.
Path to modern innovation
A model for protecting place-based products.
Builds on
1997Global impact
- Hundreds of Indian products have since been registered as GIs, from Banarasi saris to Alphonso mangoes.
Transmission
Later protected in the EU.
References
- 1GI Registry
Further reading
Corrections and additional sources: edit IND-369 on GitHub.