A webinar will be held in January-February to address labelling of commercial kava exported to Australia.

The decision by Pacific Trade Invest Australia followed stakeholder discussions over the processes involved in preparing kava for export to Australia.

The development follows the December 1 lifting of a ban imposed by the Australian Government on commercial kava trade.

December 1 marked the commencement of a two year pilot project that will determine the safe commercial trade kava.

Yesterday’s online gathering of close to 100 Fijian stakeholders was hosted by Pacific Horticultural Agricultural Market Plus Programme (PHAMA Plus) and Pacific Trade Invest Australia.

Pacific Trade Invest Australia general manager export, Jeremy Grenell, said the labelling webinar would be held between January and February, 2022.

Fijian businesses were urged to carry out their due diligence on matters relating to a pilot project on kava export to Australia.

A farmer and exporter, Semi Rainima, made the remarks during a follow-up webinar that discussed preparation measures for kava exports to Australia.

“Compliance is all this is about,” he said, during the webinar.

Mr Rainima’s remarks followed a host of queries over packaging and labelling.

Discussions
Discussions among stakeholders are expected to help steer the direction for Fiji’s commercial kava export to Australia.

There was also talks about ascertaining the organic nature of kava, for labelling purposes, after one commentator pointed out the bureaucratic processes behind such certification.

PHAMA Plus said analysis of the kava sector in Vanuatu (2017) and Fiji (2018) reported over tens of thousands of people were involved in growing kava.

Over 10,000 kava growers (one in every eight rural households) were involved in the cultivation of kava in Fiji, and 17,000 in Vanuatu, PHAMA Plus said.

PHAMA Plus said follow-up webinars will be organised to provide further clarification of the questions raised by the kava stakeholders.

Import requirements were quite straightforward and easy to meet, PHAMA Plus said.

“It was agreed that stakeholder expectations would be the best managed by the kava industry in each of the countries,” PHAMA Plus said.

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