Scottish whisky comes from Scotland, Champagne comes from the north-east of France, and mānuka honey comes from New Zealand.

That's the line from New Zealand beekeepers, battling their Australian counterparts for the right to exclusively call honey "mānuka honey".

New Zealand owners are trying to restrict use of the term to honey that comes from bees which have pollinated from mānuka trees in their native country. But their Australian counterparts are also laying claim to the term, in an intellectual property battle being compared to the Pavlova debate.

Australian beekeepers say because the mānuka tree is native to both New Zealand and Australia, they have just as much right to use the term for their honey.

But Unique Manuka Factor Honey Association general manager John Rawcliffe said while Australia produces great honey, it isn't the same product.

He said their trademark isn't about trans-Tasman rivalry but protecting their global brand.

"Our ability to say that this comes from New Zealand, that it is mānuka , that it's representative of those people that are behind it, the land that's behind it, the actual beekeeper that's behind it."

It's also about making sure consumers are getting the genuine product, he said.

"Not only do we have the issue of Australia potentially labelling a lot of their honey's mānuka but anywhere in the world could plant this plant and call it mānuka ."