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Display of Unity Further Raises Prospects for the Ethiopian Fine Coffee Sector

Display of Unity Further Raises Prospects for the Ethiopian Fine Coffee Sector

Published 10-09-07

Submitted by Light Years IP

ADDIS ABABA - October 9, 2007 - At an exuberant event at the Addis Ababa, 40 Ethiopian coffee exporters joined with H.E Yakob Yala, State Minister of Agriculture & Development and Mr Getachew Mengistie, Director General of the Ethiopian Intellectual Property Office (EIPO) to sign up publicly in support of the Fine Coffee Trademarking and Licensing Initiative.

The Initiative is breaking new ground for the fine coffee sector in Ethiopia. Trademarks for Sidamo, Yirgacheffe and Harar have been applied for in 36 countries, and secured in 28 to date, and 23 coffee companies in the UK, the Netherlands, Canada and the USA are enrolled already as licensed distributors, including US market leaders such as The Starbucks Coffee Corporation. As licensing accelerates, a further 25 key companies are expected by May 2008.

"Bringing Ethiopian producers and exporters together with overseas coffee distributors and retailers to work collaboratively to enhance the demand and value of these fine coffees is the focal point of the project," commented Getachew Mengistie, Director General of the EIPO today. "We have started out on a new journey and the unity and sense of shared vision here in our country now is very precious."

State Minister of Agriculture & Development H.E. Yakob Yala commented, "Although many foreign companies have signed the license agreement and joined the network, in the absence of the active participation of Ethiopian exporters it was difficult for the initiative to meet its goals. Therefore, the signing up of Ethiopian exporters is a fundamental achievement of the initiative and an indication of the readiness of Ethiopian exporters to support the country's development effort".

The new framework being created by the Trademarking and Licensing approach ensures greater bargaining power for Ethiopia and a real say for the sector in the presentation and marketing of Ethiopia's fine coffees in the final market. Many producing countries are watching Ethiopia’s experiment closely as this downstream involvement in coffee marketing is unprecedented.

The President of Ethiopia's Exporters' Association, Ato Abdurazak, commented, "A lot of effort has gone into the preparation and ongoing work of this Initiative by our members, many of whom have decades of experience in trading these coffees. We appreciate that we are now at a turning point and stand ready to play our part in ensuring its success."

Contacts and Notes:

Contacts:

1. Abdurazak Sherriff, President, Ethiopian Coffee Exporters Association, T: 251 11 371 19 90 email: ecea@ethionet.et

2. Getachew Mengistie Director General Ethiopian Intellectual Property Office, EIPO T: 251 115 534 969 email: gmengistie@yahoo.com

The following Ethiopian Coffee Exporters have now signed as Licensed Exporters:

A.S.K International Trading
Abadir Coff Trading PLC
Adem Bedane Oda Imp.-Exp.
Alfoz Pvt. Ltd. Co.
Alpha Trading Partners PLC
Ambassa Enterprise PLC
Atita Preivate Limited Co.
Baminif Trading PLC
Belete Shibeshi PLC
Cabey PLC
Camels Trading Enterprise PLC
Challa Mulisa Coffee Exporter
Challenge Coffee Traders PLC
Ethio Agri-CEFT PLC
Ethiopian Commodities PLC
Garden Mocca PLC
Ghion Industrial & Commercial PLC
Green Gold Ethiopia PLC
Guji coffee Exporters PLC
Haicof Limited PLC
Hora Trading
Kaleb Service Farmers House PLC
Kedir Haji Hassen
Kemal Abdella International PLC
Legesse Sherefa PLC
Mohammed A. Ogsadey Imp. Exp.
Mullege Pvt. Ltd. Co.
Oromia Coffee Farmers Cooperatives Union
Robera Pvt. Ltd. Company
S. Sara Coffee Enterprise
S.A.Bagerish
S.M.S Private Limited Co.
Said Jemal Rahmato PLC
Seid Yassin Ali Coffee Exp. Enterprise
Semachew Demissie Investment PLC
Tracon Trading
Winta International TradingPLC
Yirgacheffe Coffee Farmers Ccoperatives Union
Zege PLC
Zibad

For more information on the Ethiopian Coffee Trademarking and Licensing Initiative see the dedicated website: www.ethiopiancoffeenetwork.com.

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Light Years IP (LYIP) is a non-profit organization dedicated to alleviating poverty by assisting developing country producers gain ownership of their Intellectual Property (IP) and to use the IP to increase their export income and improve the security of that income. LYIP is pioneering a Poverty Alleviating IP Solutions (PAIPS) approach to help developing world producers identify and own their IP. We believe IP offers a business strategy that can help developing countries increase income, improve the security of their income, and alleviate poverty. We assist producers, exporters, and governments in the developing world to analyze their export potential with respect to identifying the value of intangibles and then using IP tools (i.e. patents, trademarks, licenses) to secure more sustained and higher export income. The ownership of IP is secured in market countries through the existing IP legal frameworks of the developed world.

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