Vanuatu's ambassador in Brussels says the European Union will carry out a study into kava, which is banned in countries like Germany.
EU will again look at kava which it has widely banned Photo: AFP
The commodity is popular in Melanesia but faces uncertainty in many export markets.
The ambassador, Roy Mickey Joy, says the European Union has agreed to consider a submission to the Technical Barriers to Trade programme and will appoint a legal firm to carry out a kava study.
This, he says, will take seven months and take into account legal, scientific and trade aspects of kava.
He says a two-day conference is planned in Brussels involving Pacific kava producers, with its outcome to be shared with the firm conducting the kava investigation.
This is expected to lead to a ministerial conference on kava, to be able to agree on a roadmap that would address the kava ban in Germany.
It would also look at market and quality issues, so that the product can be exported globally.
Photo: RNZ
