INDIA AGREES TO PROTECT IRISH WHISKY ALSO

INDIA GLOBAL LARGEST CONSUMER OF WHISKY

IRISH WHISKEY

Irish whiskey has been granted legal protection in India, the largest whisky market in the world, from September 2019.

According to trade body the Irish Whiskey Association (IWA), the registration of Irish whiskey as a certification mark will mean that the category “can fully compete against other whiskies by reinforcing the authenticity of the product for the Indian consumer”. India is the largest whisky market in the world by volume, with 2.3 billion bottles sold in 2018, the majority of which were domestically produced.

Last year, sales of Irish whiskey doubled to 34,000 cases in India with “further growth now being targeted”, mainly in “high-growth” cities such as Delhi. Securing the Geographical Indication (GI) status for Irish whiskey in India is another landmark for the Irish whiskey category, according to the IWA. Like similar registrations achieved earlier in the year in Australia and South Africa, this is another major success in the IWA's efforts to protect the integrity of Irish whiskey on a worldwide basis. They will now be able to take much tougher enforcement action against fake Irish whiskey products on sale in India.

This protection will also enable them to maximise opportunities to increase sales in this crucial whiskey market as it is an important selling point for the Indian consumer knowing they can enjoy Irish whiskey confident in the quality and authenticity of the product.

Last year, the IWA launched a major drive to combat the sale of counterfeit Irish whiskey around the world, tripling its legal budget for 2019.

SCOTCH WHISKY

India already recognises Scotch as whisky produced only in Scotland and over eight years ago, had agreed to formally accept 'Scotch Whisky' as a product that could only be made in Scotland.

The move followed the Geographical Indications Registry in Chennai granting GI status to the famous Scotch Whisky of Scotland. As per the registry, Scotch Whisky is the 148th item in a list of 151 products that have been given GI status. The status denotes that a product belongs to a particular area, where a given quality, reputation or other characteristic of the product is essentially attributable to its geographical origin.

Commenting on the development, the Scotch Whisky Association spokesperson said: "India is one of our priority markets. There is a huge demand for Scotch Whisky from discerning Indian consumers. It is important that they have confidence in the quality and integrity of what they are buying. The IWA's move was inevitable".