Pashmina Gets First Int'l Trademark In Norway

Published in Republica
KATHMANDU, May 19

In the first major case of a Nepali product´s garnering international patent rights, Nepali pashmina manufacturers have managed to register pashmina as a trademark in Norway. Pashmina is a prime Nepali commodity that has carved out a niche market among posh consumers around the world.

The registration has established pashmina, a Nepali name for the finest fur extract of mountain goats, as a typical Nepali product and defined pashmina items as commodities that have well-defined material content and traits.

"It will straightaway help us double pashmina exports in 2010," Shankar Pandey, president of the Nepal Pashmina Manufacturers Association (NPMA) told myrepublica.com. Although not a big market, Norway is one of the key importers of the product in Europe.

The association had received the confirmation of the trademark´s registration from the Norwegian authorities a couple of weeks ago. The association is also hopeful of receiving a similar positive response from the Australian authorities in a month.

Nepali manufacturers had lodged their applications for an international trademark, in December 2008, citing its clear definition, in a dozen countries, including Norway, Australia, the United States, the EU, Canada, Japan, China and Switzerland, among others.

That step was taken in an attempt to gain an independent identity for and regain the lost glory of the country´s once third-largest export. The move was taken with an aim to identify pashmina as a commodity different from Cashmere, a brand name used by similar Indian and Chinese products.

“The registration has granted us an independent identity and specification for pashmina items, which was much needed to continue exports to Japan and Italy,” said Pandey. Those countries had announced the restricting of pashmina imports if Nepal failed to define the commodity by the end of 2009.

Madhu Babu Adhikari, officer of NPMA, said the registration would help manufacturers to retain those markets and also reclaim the market that Nepali pashmina had lost in the United States and Europe.

Nepali pashmina items gained sudden acclaim in the international market and carved out niche markets in late 1990s after fashion magazines associated the product with high-profile personalities, including the UK´s royalties. That exposure soon boosted pashmina´s exports to over Rs 7 billion in 2000 and expanded its market to as many as 75 countries.

However, the failure in maintaining its quality, coupled with the aggressive marketing of cashmere products as pashmina by India and China, soon started to displace Nepali exports, resulting in pashmina´s gradually declining exports, which stood at Rs 540 million in 2007/08.

Furthermore, because Indian and Chinese manufacturers were heavily blending viscose yarn, acrylic wool, soybean fiber and poly-yarn with their pashmina products and selling them as genuine pashmina products, that practice had also dented Nepali pashmina´s image.

Going by the definition registered now, a pashmina product must have at least 51 percent pashmina content for it to be tagged as a pashmina item. “This will safeguard pashmina exports from the competition provided by inferior quality pashmina," Adhikari stated.