13 Jan 2004

Fiji expected to earn US$50m from kava

12:12 pm on 13 January 2004

Fiji's kava industry is expected to earn more than 50-million US dollars this year.

The chairman of the Fiji Kava Council, Ratu Josateki Nawalowalo, says this will be the outcome of a boom that is expected after kava was found to be a safe herbal supplement.

He says European countries have lifted their ban on kava but a concerted effort is needed to push their case through to the United States and neighbouring Australia and New Zealand.

Ratu Josateki has now been appointed to the chair of the International Kava Executive Council which comprises producers in Fiji, Vanuatu, Tonga and Samoa.

The organisation is funded by the European Union's Centre for the Development of Enterprises based in Brussels.