Who are they protecting here:
--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.