KATHMANDU: It will take a few more days to finalise the procedure for the allocated Rs 12.4 million budget for Nepal Pashmina Industries Association (NPIA) that will help the association establish pashmina trademark abroad.

Pending the decision regarding reimbursement to NPIA, it is bound to wait for the budget allocated for the present fiscal year. Recently, an agreement was made between government and the association regarding reimbursement of trademark registration costs.

According to the agreement, the government has allocated a budget of Rs 12.4 million and initially it will provide Rs 25 lakh in two instalments as reimbursement for expenses incurred by NPIA during the trademark registration process. NPIA has set a brand logo of Nepali pashmina with the name 'Chyangra Pashmina' for brand

registration in the international and national market.

Trade and Promotion Centre (TEPC) director Dilip Aryal disclosed that due to some technical problems regarding reimbursement procedure, the money has still not been given to NPIA but within this week the Ministry will decide on the process of reimbursement.

Till date, NPIA has spent around Rs 7 lakh in the trademark registration process. "It was really hard to get the money for the process. We have to pay heavily for trade registration, advocate charges and brand registration," said NPIA president Shanker Prasad Pandey.

According to the agreement for reimbursement, the government will provide 70 per cent of the expenses while 30 per cent will be borne by the private sector. NPIA has started its brand registration in the EU as well as in Australia, Norway, Switzerland, Korea, Japan, America, the United States, Canada, and Russia. NPIA has succeeded in its registration with Norway and has got confirmation from Australia.

NPIA will apply to 14 more countries among which application for brand registration has already been forwarded to 11 countries.

According to Pandey, within the next fiscal year along with the EU the Pashmina brand will be registered in 26 countries. NPIA has launched its brand registration programme to check fake products being exported in the name of Nepali pashmina and guarantee quality of the products.

According to 11-months export data of the Federation of Handicraft Association of Nepal (FHAN), the total contribution of Pashmina to the total export was 23 per cent, with total export value of Rs 632711289.3268. Total Pashmina exported during the same period last year was worth Rs 525057907.2271.

Due to lack of Nepali pashmina brand, different countries are selling low quality products in the name of Nepali pashmina but which are made of viscous polyester, wool, cotton and other textile materials. More than 50 per cent of the local market has been taken by fake pashmina, said NPIA. It will soon start a campaign in the local market, putting up hoardings at major tourist spots listing the qualities of real pashmina.