Kava exporter raises concerns
A LOCAL yaqona farmer and kava exporter is concerned about his exports to the United States after this newspaper on Monday mentioned kava in a report about the deaths of two US tourists.
Green Gold Kava managing director Praveen Narayan said his company had a lot of interest in the US markets for their unique kava products and he was worried the media reports would affect his trade relations with his US counterparts.
Mr Narayan said the Fiji Kava Taskforce and the Pacific Horticultural and Agricultural Market Access Program (PHAMA Plus) had been doing a lot of research and development for kava over the past four years.
“With so much money spent on these projects and programs, we are trying to make sure that kava is healthy enough for human consumption and this media reporting doesn’t help,” he said.
“It is imperative that the media should have checked with the relevant authorities to determine whether kava was at fault or something else. We are now in a society where very much hard drugs are now available which can also cause death.
“If by any chance the US government banned kava imports from this media frenzy that your team has created, who will be responsible for the kava farmers in Fiji and the Pacific region whose livelihoods depend on the kava industry?” he said.
Meanwhile, Mr Narayan — who was recently invited to the Global Entrepreneurship Summit in Netherlands — said they were able to assertively approach the European Union to give the opportunity to the kava industry to supply kava into the European market.
Mr Narayan said the kava industry stakeholders hoped that the recent media coverage would not hinder their efforts to make inroads into the international market.
“So we are doing our part in promoting of kava into the global market and it comes with a lot of research and development and commitment with cohesive dialogue to be able to make inroads into these new markets. So this news is the last thing we need for the kava industry as a whole. My colleagues from other Pacific countries are very concerned about this issue.”
The Fiji Times editor Fred Wesley said: “The use of the word kava in both headlines on pages 1 and 3 (July 15) did not in any way insinuate that kava was responsible for the couple’s death. There is no mention at all that kava killed the couple. The story is about the families’ concern over who may have introduced kava and socialised with the couple before their unfortunate death.
“Investigations have still not concluded what killed them. Suggesting the beverage as a cause of death is irresponsible. The article highlights the concerns of the couple’s grieving families in the US. Surely that deserves attention,” he said.
“Their quest, as highlighted in our headlines, is to know who the couple spent their last moments with, who might know anything more about them and any other information that could provide some closure.
“It is unfortunate that Mr Narayan has misinterpreted the report.”