The French Polynesian agriculture minister, Kalani Teixeira, has ruled out importing vanilla pods from the Cook Islands.
This comes just days after the Cook Islands finance minister Mark Brown said a delegation had been asked by French Polynesia to help it in its production of vanilla for export.
This led to reports that the Cook Islands was considering exporting of up to 100 tonnes of vanilla to French Polynesia a year.
But Mr Teixeira says there will be no such imports.
He also says the vanilla grown in Tahiti is specific to the island and wouldn't grow in the Cook Islands.
He says the vanilla produced in the Cook Islands has not the same characteristics and aroma.
