Trade body the Scotch Whisky Association is celebrating a LEADING court success in India which will help shield and maybe even create occupations in the whisky industry in Scotland.
With India being found as among the quickest growing markets for Scotch on the planet, the Scotch Whisky Association (SWA) acted after three distilleries were seen to be marketing "Scotch" as element of their whisky concoctions.
Scotch accounts for one per cent of consumption, not least due to the 150 per cent protective tariffs on imports of Scotch and efforts by Indian distilleries to assert they're utilizing Scotch in their own ingredients, although the spirits market in India is enormous.
Kenneth Gray, senior legal counsel to the SWA, described its particular relevance and the court case to the sector.
He said: "The issue of misleading practices has to be addressed, whereby firms make an effort to take partial advantage of the success of Scotch.
"The firms also have been prohibited from using any words, names, pictures or apparatus evocative of Scotland or
Malaysia japanese whisky unless the item is authentic Scotch whisky.
"This court decision represents several legal 'firsts' that we've welcomed.
"This was the first activity we increased using measures in the Heart Drinks Confirmation System.
"The scheme was started in January 2014 to give consumers of Scotch whisky all over the world even greater assurance that what they're purchasing is the real article.
"It ensures that each element of the Scotch whisky supply chain, from distiller to bottler, across the world, is mapped by the business and registered with the UK Government to make sure it complies completely with all creation and bottling rules.
"None of the three firms described as the bottlers of these brands were recorded under the affirmation scheme.
"We said the lack of confirmation indicated there clearly was no Scotch Whisky in the goods, meaning they infringed the SWA's enrollment of '
Scotch whisky' in India as a geographical indication (GI).
When details of the judgement were made public the case got widespread marketing in India.
The Economic Times of India reported the case "was determined in a record time of two months, among the first disputes determined under the recently-created advertisement courts ordinance in October 2015.
"Merchandises brewed locally in India cannot allude to the term Scotch or Scotch whisky...particularly since Scotch whisky was filed in India in 2009 as a geographical indication.
Gray said: "Such choices are only able to be be beneficial for Scotch in India and consumers."
PR
