Earlier this month, Scotch Whisky has been registered as a Geographical Indication (GI) within the Organisation Africaine de la Proprieté Intellectuelle (OAPI), thereby obtaining recognition and protection in the Organisation’s 17 member countries (Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Comoros, Equatorial Guinea, Ivory Coast, Gabon, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Republic of Congo, Senegal and Togo). Those countries count a total population of some 150 million people.
Following the recognition in Botswana last July, this is another important achievement for the Scotch Whisky Association (SWA) in its efforts to protect the GI in key export markets. Between 2005 and 2014, Scotch Whisky exports to all OAPI countries increased tremendously by 275% to £13.6 million from just under £5m.
Scotch Whisky is now officially recognised in nearly 100 countries around the world.
More information @ http://www.scotch-whisky.org.uk/news-publications/news/scotch-whisky-gets-top-legal-protection-across-17-african-countries/#.VfgtdBHtmkp
This summary has been extracted from an “oriGIn Alert”, which is a service reserved exclusively to oriGIn members.