The Department of Trade, Ministry of Economic Affairs organized the award function of the fourth round of Bhutan SEAL Program on May 21, 2019 at Taj Tashi, Thimphu. Hon’ble Tengye Lyonpo graced the award event and awarded the certificates to the winners. The Department Heads of the Ministry, participants of the program and officials from the Department of Trade were in attendance.
From the total of 18 handicraft products submitted for the program, 13 products were awarded the Seal of Quality Certificate along with a cash prize of Nu. 20,000 each. The selected products will also be given promotional support and other marketing incentives while the non-awarded products will be given product development and capacity building support to encourage producers to improve their quality and take part in the future events.
The judging session for the Fourth Round of Bhutan Seal Award 2019 was held on April 26, 2019 in the Department of Trade, Ministry of Economic Affairs. The products were judged by a panel of 12 judges consisting of both national and international experts on crafts.
The Bhutan Seal Program is aimed at establishing quality benchmark for our handicraft products which carries huge potential not only in terms of employment but also generating foreign exchange in the long run. It also aims to encourage the artisans and producers to be more innovative and creative while preserving the age-old traditional craft skills and knowledge.
The Program is being held every alternative year. The certificates that are awarded to the selected products shall remain valid for a period of four years after which the product needs to be resubmitted for extension of the validity period.
