European and American coffee roasting and distribution companies have signed an agreement to use Ethiopia's coffee specialty trademarks.
The Ethiopian Intellectual Property Office (EIPO) made this announcement on Wednesday.
This week's agreements follow legal battles with large coffee distributors, such as the Starbucks chain in the US, over Ethiopia's rights to trademark its indigenous coffee, which would give the country a larger share of revenue from the industry.
Wondwossen Belete, a representative of the EIPO Director General, told Ethiopian News Agency (ENA) Wednesday that the companies which signed the agreement included some of the biggest coffee companies in Europe and the United States.
Some 24 coffee roaster and distributor companies in the US have signed the agreement, while one company in Holland has already put signature to the agreement, he added.
The trade of coffee is Ethiopia's largest export, and generates 60 percent of its total export earnings, while employing about 12 million people.
The best Ethiopian coffee may be compared with the finest coffee in the world, and premium washed Arabica beans fetch some of the highest prices on the world market
The EIPO Director General last week held discussions with 18 British coffee companies on the licensing agreement, he said.
Similarly, two British companies have signed the agreement to use Ethiopian coffee specialty trademarks, Mr Belete said, adding that discussions would be held to reach agreement with the remaining British coffee companies.
He said the Director General had also held discussions on the matter with 20 German coffee companies, out of which 10 are expected to put their signature on the agreement.
Discussions are underway with a renowned Japanese coffee company on the licensing agreement, he added. - BuaNews-NNN
Angola to co-ordinate region's coastal transport
Luanda - Angola has been elected co-ordinator for the African Central-South Coastal Zone at the Fourth Session of Bureau of Transport Ministers of the Maritime Organization of West and Central Africa (MOWCA).
The Secretary-General of MOWCA, Magnus Teye Addico, announced this to the media, at the end of the two-day session held at the Talatona Conventions Centre here Wednesday.
At the session, it was unanimously agreed to reduce the African maritime coastal zones, previously divided into four co-ordination centres -- at Abidjan, Ivory Coast; Dakar, Senegal; Lagos, Nigeria; and Pointe-Noire, Congo-Brazzaville -- to two main zones.
The first zone, for which Angola will be co-ordinator, covers the centres at Lagos and Pointe-Noire, and the second, which will come under the responsibility of Ghana, covers the north which includes the centres at Dakar and of Abdjan.
The two main centres at Luanda and Accra will be in charge of co-ordinating all matters relating to the problem of marine communication, pollution, armed robbery, piracy, among others, and will also be responsible for deciding about acting against the above-mentioned crimes, within their respective areas of jurisdiction.
Magnus Addico said that in the framework of the proposal made by the African Union in Abuja, Nigeria, in February this year, the organization would be the basic element of contact for co-operation between continents.
Regarding the two maritime academies located within member states of MOWCA, at Accra and Abidjan, the ministers decided to attribute to the first the status of Regional Maritime University, which will contribute to the raising of the level of its cadres within the organization.
The academy will be inaugurated by the President of MOWCA, Andre Luis Brandao, who is the Angolan Transport Minister, in Accra on 25 October this year.
During the session, MOWCA member states debated about maritime safety, maritime transport services, co-operation with international organizations and partners towards development and the Maritime Action Plan of the African Union, among other topics.
Founded in 1975, MOWCA mainly aims at promoting inter-regional co-operation for the development of the maritime transport industry, port management, and navigation security, protection of the marine and fluvial-lacustrine environment.
The Bureau of Ministers, one of the organization's main structures, is made up of Angola (president), Senegal (1st vice-president), Democratic Republic of Congo (2nd vice-president), Nigeria, Gabon, Mali, Ivory Coast.
MOWCA's 25 member countries are Angola, Benin, Burkina Faso, Congo Brazzaville, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Gabon, Ghana, Gambia, Guinean Conakry, Guinea Bissau, Equatorial Guinea, Liberia, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Chad, Togo, Central African Republic, DR Congo, San Tome and Principe, Nigeria and Côte d'Ivoire.
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