Ceylon Cinnamon will obtain Sri Lanka’s first Geographical Indication (GI) in the coming week.
Below are the long and arduous actions taken to achieve this:
In the mid ‘90s when the National Intellectual Property Office (NIPO) Act was being formulated, the Ceylon Cinnamon Association (CCA) managed to get Ceylon cinnamon protected as GI along with tea and blue sapphires.
The then Minister of Trade, late Kingsley T. Wickramaratne readily accepted our request seeing the potential of GI for Sri Lankan products. We are grateful to him.
This was during the period of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS), which is the most comprehensive multilateral agreement on intellectual property. Unfortunately, it is not active at present.
On the advice of Dr. Harsha Cabraal PC, we informed all exporters through the CCA, The Spice Council (TSC), and the Spices and Allied Products Traders’ Association (SAPPTA) to mark all their cinnamon products exported as “Ceylon Cinnamon” in every package. M.C.M. Zarook, Varuni Kariyakarawana, and I worked on this extensively.
During the period of 2005/2006, the CCA, TSC, and I were instrumental in getting assistance from the German Aid Agency (GTZ) to establish ISO 22000-certified cinnamon processing factories – five in the Galle District, four in the Matara District, and one in Ratnapura. The cinnamon produced by these factories was promoted as U10 in overseas markets. With Minister Prof. G.L. Peiris, the CCA and TSC was instrumental along with the Export Development Board (EDB) to establish 20 medium Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point (HACCP) and Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP)-certified cinnamon processing centres.
The CCA, TSC, and the SAPPTA worked with Gothami Indikadehena of the Department of Commerce (DOC), Dr. Neville Gunawardena of Sri Lanka Customs, and Nalika Koddikara of the Export Development Board (EDB) on the separation/bifurcation of cinnamon from Cassia in H.S. Codes.
The late Dr. R.O.B Wijesekera did the scientific paper to differentiate cinnamon from Cassia. Prof. Jayasiri Lankage provided the historical background and I provided the industry perspective. I wish to place on record the sincere thanks profusely on behalf of the cinnamon industry to Gothami Indikadehena of DOC and Dr. Neville Gunawardena of Sri Lanka Customs who worked diligently and hard to do the bifurcation of cinnamon from Cassia in 2005 and legal effect from 2007. This unanimous decision at the World Customs Organisation is very rare and all due to the lobbying by Dr. Neville Gunawardena of Sri Lanka Customs.
In 2007, I was invited to address the World Spice Congress, American Spice Traders’ Association (ASTA) Centenary Sessions, and celebrations in Laguna Niguel, Los Angeles. I made presentations on cinnamon at the World Spice Congress on numerous occasions and chaired many sessions at International Pepper Community annual meetings. In 2007, I addressed the European Spice Association (ESA) annual sessions in Munich, Germany, and D.A. Perera accompanied me. We lobbied the European buyers and informed them of the very high presence of coumarin in Cassia which is carcinogenic.
This lobbying by the ASTA and the ESA and the bifurcation of cinnamon and Cassia in 2007 and action taken by exporters, TSC, the DOC, Sri Lanka Customs, and the EDB resulted in the average prices increasing from $ 6 to almost $ 10 per kg.
In our NIPO law there is no separate or special section on protecting GI and no local register at present, and it only mentions that Ceylon cinnamon, tea, and blue sapphires are protected as GIs. The NIPO Director General has taken steps to amend the NIPO Act. The United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO) provided consultants for the process and was funded by the European Union (EU).
NIPO DG Dr. Karunaratne, Gothami Indikadehena of the DOC, EDB Officer Prof. Jayasiri Lankage, and I worked on getting the “Lion” logo certification mark for Ceylon cinnamon. The Lion logo was launched by then President and now Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa at Anuga, Germany.
In 2013, the CCA, TSC, and I approached the WTO Standards and Trade Development Facility, the UNIDO, and the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) of the UN for assistance on GI. They provided us with funding to visit the EU and the WTO to meet with their officials and study the process of GI. The Brussels Embassy officials and FAO GI consultant Dominique Barjolle had arranged these meetings.
The EDB legal officer, UNIDO officials, and I met the EU GI Department, Development Department, Department of Agriculture, and Health and Photo-Sanitary Department in Brussels, Belgium. We also met with intellectual property (IP) lawyer Bernard O’Conner who had done the Darjeeling tea GI from India.
In Geneva, Barjolle and I met WTO, World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO), International Trade Centre (ITC), and Origin, Diversity, and Territories Organisation officials. The EU and UNIDO were extensive in their various actions taken towards GI, so much so that the European Ambassador to Sri Lanka who was on holiday in the Netherlands came to Brussels to attend the main meetings in our support.
This was followed up with FAO GI consultant Dominique Barjolle visiting Sri Lanka and meeting all relevant actors of the cinnamon value chain and developing a comprehensive Road Map to obtain GI for Ceylon cinnamon.
Unfortunately, government officials wanted to have the GI under the total control of the government authorities. Therefore, the application to the EU was made by the EDB.
We retained the lawyer Bernard O’Conner and we are thankful to our then Ambassador to WTO for obtaining from the Common Fund for Commodities the cost of the legal fees of the lawyer, and the balance was funded by the EDB.
Like-minded actors with decades of experience in the cinnamon industry started work on developing the specifications and application with EDB legal officers. Not many; other than Prof. Jayasiri Lankage, one or two others and I attended most of the meetings. The GI is given to group producers or their representative. This took nearly three years for us to persuade these officials to form the Ceylon Cinnamon GI Association (CCGIA). This was facilitated by UNIDO.
The UNIDO, the EDB, and the Department of Export Agriculture (DEA) with all stakeholders finalised the specifications and specifications and application. We had a series of producer meetings in the Galle, Matara, Kalutara, and Ratnapura Districts organised by the EDB, the DEA, TSC, the Cinnamon Training Academy (CTA), and the CCGIA and was funded by the EDB.
Since there were delays from the EU GI office, I went to Brussels in May 2019 and had a meeting with Sri Lankan High Commissioner to Belgium lawyer Bernard O’Conner in the presence of Shirani Ariyaratne and discussed the need to speed up the process. O’Conner, Ariyaratne, and I had a meeting with the Head of the GI Unit at this meeting, and they informed us of the deficiencies in the application and specification. The lawyer and I were able to clarify most matters and the lawyer agreed to make certain changes to be in line with EU GI Regulations. After I came back, the stakeholders were consulted and the document explaining the clarification was sought.
We had a meeting with European Commission (EC) Co-operation Officer – International Aid and Development Co-ordination for Nepal, Sri Lanka, and the Maldives Virieu J.C. At this meeting we stressed the need for the current EU funding programme implemented through UNIDO and ITC to continue till at least the end of 2021. (This EU project was to end in September 2019). They agreed to recommend to the EU to continue the programme with no additional budget. The programme was continued and ended in February 2021. This project helped a lot in the whole Ceylon Cinnamon GI Project.
In February 2020, Virieu J.C., Raffaele Schiassi of the EU, Brussels, and Harshini Halangode who was the Programme Manager – Co-operation Section, Delegation of the European Union to Sri Lanka and the Maldives visited the CTA. We were able to show them the cinnamon plantation, training facility, training modules, and the operation of a bought tree factory. The GMP booklet was emailed to them as requested.
They were very pleased to see how we had utilised the funding for CTA and the cinnamon GI. We canvassed for assistance for both the CTA and GI in the next round of EU funding to be implemented through UNIDO/FAO/GTZ from 2022 onwards.
Now most of the work has been done, the traceability scheme has been developed with a QR code by software developer 99x, totally funded by the EU and facilitated by UNIDO. The control plan as per specifications within National Vocational Qualifications (NVQ) has been developed by Control Union, the EDB, UNIDO and the CCGIA. There are some differences between government officials and the CCGIA.
Most buyers now insist on the three Ps. That is the certification of Product, Process, and Personal; Product Standard, Process, and Personal certification with NVQ qualifications. The budgets for the GI Association were prepared by the EDB, the CCGIA, and UNIDO and were presented to the national budget by the EDB for 2019, 2020, and 2021. No funding whatsoever has been given to the CCGIA to do its work with producers and value chain actors. We believe the Government must provide the initial funding required to run the association, train growers, actors of the value chain, and most importantly promote and protect the GIs. After the initial few years, the association would generate sufficient funds to develop the GIs further.
Over the last decade I have continuously travelled and met EU, WTO, Standards and Trade Development Facility (STDF), and WIPO officials regarding the Ceylon cinnamon GI. I have travelled mostly to Vienna and Geneva on an almost yearly basis and to Brussels four times.
I have been invited on three occasions to the WTO Aid for Trade Conferences where I was the speaker on Ceylon cinnamon. On two of these occasions we had Ceylon cinnamon product promotion, and these promotions were supported by UNIDO and WTO-STDF.
I wish to thank CCA, TSC, EDB, DOC, NIPO, DEA, UNIDO, WTO-STDF, WIPO and EU officials for the assistance given.
The roles played by President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, Minister of Trade Bandula Gunawardena, Minister of Plantations Dr. Ramesh Pathirana, and Minister of Export Crops Janaka Wakkumbura, have helped immensely.
We have not received any funding from the EDB or the Government for activities and my visit and work. Most of this was done at my personal expense.
(The writer is Chairman of the Ceylon Cinnamon Geographical Indication Association, the Ceylon Cinnamon Association, and the Cinnamon Training Academy, and is Founder and Emeritus Chairman of The Spice Council of Sri Lanka)
……………………………………………
The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect those of this publication.Ceylon cinnamon on the verge of obtaining geographical indication
28 Jan 2022
Ceylon cinnamon on the verge of obtaining geographical indication
28 Jan 2022
Ceylon Cinnamon will obtain Sri Lanka’s first Geographical Indication (GI) in the coming week.
Below are the long and arduous actions taken to achieve this:
In the mid ‘90s when the National Intellectual Property Office (NIPO) Act was being formulated, the Ceylon Cinnamon Association (CCA) managed to get Ceylon cinnamon protected as GI along with tea and blue sapphires.
The then Minister of Trade, late Kingsley T. Wickramaratne readily accepted our request seeing the potential of GI for Sri Lankan products. We are grateful to him.
This was during the period of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS), which is the most comprehensive multilateral agreement on intellectual property. Unfortunately, it is not active at present.
On the advice of Dr. Harsha Cabraal PC, we informed all exporters through the CCA, The Spice Council (TSC), and the Spices and Allied Products Traders’ Association (SAPPTA) to mark all their cinnamon products exported as “Ceylon Cinnamon” in every package. M.C.M. Zarook, Varuni Kariyakarawana, and I worked on this extensively.
During the period of 2005/2006, the CCA, TSC, and I were instrumental in getting assistance from the German Aid Agency (GTZ) to establish ISO 22000-certified cinnamon processing factories – five in the Galle District, four in the Matara District, and one in Ratnapura. The cinnamon produced by these factories was promoted as U10 in overseas markets. With Minister Prof. G.L. Peiris, the CCA and TSC was instrumental along with the Export Development Board (EDB) to establish 20 medium Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point (HACCP) and Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP)-certified cinnamon processing centres.
The CCA, TSC, and the SAPPTA worked with Gothami Indikadehena of the Department of Commerce (DOC), Dr. Neville Gunawardena of Sri Lanka Customs, and Nalika Koddikara of the Export Development Board (EDB) on the separation/bifurcation of cinnamon from Cassia in H.S. Codes.
The late Dr. R.O.B Wijesekera did the scientific paper to differentiate cinnamon from Cassia. Prof. Jayasiri Lankage provided the historical background and I provided the industry perspective. I wish to place on record the sincere thanks profusely on behalf of the cinnamon industry to Gothami Indikadehena of DOC and Dr. Neville Gunawardena of Sri Lanka Customs who worked diligently and hard to do the bifurcation of cinnamon from Cassia in 2005 and legal effect from 2007. This unanimous decision at the World Customs Organisation is very rare and all due to the lobbying by Dr. Neville Gunawardena of Sri Lanka Customs.
In 2007, I was invited to address the World Spice Congress, American Spice Traders’ Association (ASTA) Centenary Sessions, and celebrations in Laguna Niguel, Los Angeles. I made presentations on cinnamon at the World Spice Congress on numerous occasions and chaired many sessions at International Pepper Community annual meetings. In 2007, I addressed the European Spice Association (ESA) annual sessions in Munich, Germany, and D.A. Perera accompanied me. We lobbied the European buyers and informed them of the very high presence of coumarin in Cassia which is carcinogenic.
This lobbying by the ASTA and the ESA and the bifurcation of cinnamon and Cassia in 2007 and action taken by exporters, TSC, the DOC, Sri Lanka Customs, and the EDB resulted in the average prices increasing from $ 6 to almost $ 10 per kg.
In our NIPO law there is no separate or special section on protecting GI and no local register at present, and it only mentions that Ceylon cinnamon, tea, and blue sapphires are protected as GIs. The NIPO Director General has taken steps to amend the NIPO Act. The United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO) provided consultants for the process and was funded by the European Union (EU).
NIPO DG Dr. Karunaratne, Gothami Indikadehena of the DOC, EDB Officer Prof. Jayasiri Lankage, and I worked on getting the “Lion” logo certification mark for Ceylon cinnamon. The Lion logo was launched by then President and now Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa at Anuga, Germany.
In 2013, the CCA, TSC, and I approached the WTO Standards and Trade Development Facility, the UNIDO, and the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) of the UN for assistance on GI. They provided us with funding to visit the EU and the WTO to meet with their officials and study the process of GI. The Brussels Embassy officials and FAO GI consultant Dominique Barjolle had arranged these meetings.
The EDB legal officer, UNIDO officials, and I met the EU GI Department, Development Department, Department of Agriculture, and Health and Photo-Sanitary Department in Brussels, Belgium. We also met with intellectual property (IP) lawyer Bernard O’Conner who had done the Darjeeling tea GI from India.
In Geneva, Barjolle and I met WTO, World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO), International Trade Centre (ITC), and Origin, Diversity, and Territories Organisation officials. The EU and UNIDO were extensive in their various actions taken towards GI, so much so that the European Ambassador to Sri Lanka who was on holiday in the Netherlands came to Brussels to attend the main meetings in our support.
This was followed up with FAO GI consultant Dominique Barjolle visiting Sri Lanka and meeting all relevant actors of the cinnamon value chain and developing a comprehensive Road Map to obtain GI for Ceylon cinnamon.
Unfortunately, government officials wanted to have the GI under the total control of the government authorities. Therefore, the application to the EU was made by the EDB.
We retained the lawyer Bernard O’Conner and we are thankful to our then Ambassador to WTO for obtaining from the Common Fund for Commodities the cost of the legal fees of the lawyer, and the balance was funded by the EDB.
Like-minded actors with decades of experience in the cinnamon industry started work on developing the specifications and application with EDB legal officers. Not many; other than Prof. Jayasiri Lankage, one or two others and I attended most of the meetings. The GI is given to group producers or their representative. This took nearly three years for us to persuade these officials to form the Ceylon Cinnamon GI Association (CCGIA). This was facilitated by UNIDO.
The UNIDO, the EDB, and the Department of Export Agriculture (DEA) with all stakeholders finalised the specifications and specifications and application. We had a series of producer meetings in the Galle, Matara, Kalutara, and Ratnapura Districts organised by the EDB, the DEA, TSC, the Cinnamon Training Academy (CTA), and the CCGIA and was funded by the EDB.
Since there were delays from the EU GI office, I went to Brussels in May 2019 and had a meeting with Sri Lankan High Commissioner to Belgium lawyer Bernard O’Conner in the presence of Shirani Ariyaratne and discussed the need to speed up the process. O’Conner, Ariyaratne, and I had a meeting with the Head of the GI Unit at this meeting, and they informed us of the deficiencies in the application and specification. The lawyer and I were able to clarify most matters and the lawyer agreed to make certain changes to be in line with EU GI Regulations. After I came back, the stakeholders were consulted and the document explaining the clarification was sought.
We had a meeting with European Commission (EC) Co-operation Officer – International Aid and Development Co-ordination for Nepal, Sri Lanka, and the Maldives Virieu J.C. At this meeting we stressed the need for the current EU funding programme implemented through UNIDO and ITC to continue till at least the end of 2021. (This EU project was to end in September 2019). They agreed to recommend to the EU to continue the programme with no additional budget. The programme was continued and ended in February 2021. This project helped a lot in the whole Ceylon Cinnamon GI Project.
In February 2020, Virieu J.C., Raffaele Schiassi of the EU, Brussels, and Harshini Halangode who was the Programme Manager – Co-operation Section, Delegation of the European Union to Sri Lanka and the Maldives visited the CTA. We were able to show them the cinnamon plantation, training facility, training modules, and the operation of a bought tree factory. The GMP booklet was emailed to them as requested.
They were very pleased to see how we had utilised the funding for CTA and the cinnamon GI. We canvassed for assistance for both the CTA and GI in the next round of EU funding to be implemented through UNIDO/FAO/GTZ from 2022 onwards.
Now most of the work has been done, the traceability scheme has been developed with a QR code by software developer 99x, totally funded by the EU and facilitated by UNIDO. The control plan as per specifications within National Vocational Qualifications (NVQ) has been developed by Control Union, the EDB, UNIDO and the CCGIA. There are some differences between government officials and the CCGIA.
Most buyers now insist on the three Ps. That is the certification of Product, Process, and Personal; Product Standard, Process, and Personal certification with NVQ qualifications. The budgets for the GI Association were prepared by the EDB, the CCGIA, and UNIDO and were presented to the national budget by the EDB for 2019, 2020, and 2021. No funding whatsoever has been given to the CCGIA to do its work with producers and value chain actors. We believe the Government must provide the initial funding required to run the association, train growers, actors of the value chain, and most importantly promote and protect the GIs. After the initial few years, the association would generate sufficient funds to develop the GIs further.
Over the last decade I have continuously travelled and met EU, WTO, Standards and Trade Development Facility (STDF), and WIPO officials regarding the Ceylon cinnamon GI. I have travelled mostly to Vienna and Geneva on an almost yearly basis and to Brussels four times.
I have been invited on three occasions to the WTO Aid for Trade Conferences where I was the speaker on Ceylon cinnamon. On two of these occasions we had Ceylon cinnamon product promotion, and these promotions were supported by UNIDO and WTO-STDF.
I wish to thank CCA, TSC, EDB, DOC, NIPO, DEA, UNIDO, WTO-STDF, WIPO and EU officials for the assistance given.
The roles played by President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, Minister of Trade Bandula Gunawardena, Minister of Plantations Dr. Ramesh Pathirana, and Minister of Export Crops Janaka Wakkumbura, have helped immensely.
We have not received any funding from the EDB or the Government for activities and my visit and work. Most of this was done at my personal expense.
(The writer is Chairman of the Ceylon Cinnamon Geographical Indication Association, the Ceylon Cinnamon Association, and the Cinnamon Training Academy, and is Founder and Emeritus Chairman of The Spice Council of Sri Lanka)
……………………………………………
The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect those of this publication.Kapruka
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Discover Kapruka, the leading online shopping platform in Sri Lanka, where you can conveniently send Gifts and Flowers to your loved ones for any event. Explore a wide range of popular Shopping Categories on Kapruka, including Toys, Groceries, Electronics, Birthday Cakes, Fruits, Chocolates, Automobile, Mother and Baby Products, Clothing, and Fashion. Additionally, Kapruka offers unique online services like Money Remittance, Astrology, Medicine Delivery, and access to over 700 Top Brands. Also If you’re interested in selling with Kapruka, Partner Central by Kapruka is the best solution to start with. Moreover, through Kapruka Global Shop, you can also enjoy the convenience of purchasing products from renowned platforms like Amazon and eBay and have them delivered to Sri Lanka.Send love straight to their heart this Valentine's with our thoughtful gifts!