17 The Potentials, and Current Challenges, of Protecting Geographical Indications in Sri Lanka Naazima Kamardeen* 1 introduction In a country like Sri Lanka, the importance of obtaining protection for unique products can hardly be overstated. Sri Lanka is a small nation, both in size and in production capacity. Still, Sri Lanka is known globally for its tea, in particular, Ceylon Tea. Although China and Kenya produce more tea than Sri Lanka, 1 Sri Lanka remains one of the largest global exporters of tea. 2 This has been achieved partly due to the fact that the name of its famous tea, Ceylon Tea, is protected as a registered certification mark 3 and under the regime for the protection of geographical indications (GIs), 4 as is the logo identifying the “Ceylon Tea.” 5 Sri Lanka is also famous for its “true cinnamon,” the Ceylon Cinnamon, 6 which is also widely exported, and which also enjoys protection as a certification mark and under the current GI regime. But what if Sri Lanka could make better use of its existing protection for geographical names and protect additional products coming from specific geographical areas in the country? For example, Sri Lanka is famous for Ceylon Sapphires, Dumbara Mats, and Beeralu Lace – just to name a few products. Yet, the producers of these products have not been successful at * Senior Lecturer, Faculty of Law, University of Colombo, Sri Lanka. 1 Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations [FAO], World Tea Production and Trade – Current and Future Development, at 4, U.N. Doc. I4480E/1/03.15 (2015), available at www.fao.org/3/a-i4480e.pdf. 2 Id. at 5. 3 See discussion infra Section 5. 4 See discussion infra Section 4. 5 See RAVINDRA A. YATAWARA &AMRIT RAJAPAKSE,GAINING COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE THROUGH THE PROTECTION OF GEOGRAPHICAL I NDICATIONS:AN ANALYSIS OF THE TEA, SAPPHIRES AND CINNAMON I NDUSTRIES OF SRI LANKA (2006). 6 See discussion infra Section 4. 409 https://doi.org/10.1017/9781316711002.018 Published online by Cambridge University Press