KATHMANDU: Nepal Pashmina Industries Association (NPIA), the Chyangra Pashmina trademark was approved by Malaysia, China, Brazil and Russia recently. Canada, the US, the European Union, Japan, Norway, Switzerland and Australia are among the countries that have already given approval to the brand. The Chyangra Pashmina logo was okayed for use on Nepali pashmina products in 2011. The NPIA, in collaboration with the Commerce Ministry and the Trade and Export Promotion Centre (TEPC), has been working to register the logo in the international market. The Chyangra Pashmina logo guarantees that strict quality standards and environmentally friendly methods have been followed, and that no child labour has been used, during the entire production process.
Export orders for Nepali pashmina products have swelled since the trademark was approved. As per the statistics of the TEPC, export earnings from Nepali pashmina stood at Rs1.63 billion in 2010-11 which surged to Rs2.44 billion in 2016-17. The use of the collective trademark has helped revive demand for Nepali pashmina.
You might also like
Nepal saw a sharp fall in pashmina shipments from 2000-10. Traders exported pashmina products worth Rs7.5 billion during 1999-00. Exports plunged to Rs1.3 billion in 2009-10. Similarly, the number of pashmina factories dropped to 100 from 1,000 during its heyday and investments also fell sharply to Rs3 billion from Rs15 billion during the period, according to the NPIA. Thapa attributed the rise in export earnings to the registration of the Chyangra Pashmina brand in more countries.
