SUVA – Pacific producers have supported the call for regional standard on instant kava which can be mixed as a powder with water and consumed without the usual filtering process.
Producers met in Vanuatu this week to agree on ways in which to demonstrate and provide assurances to key international markets that kava is produced and manufactured in accordance to an agreed codex quality standard.
The 14th Session of the Joint FAO/WHO Food Standards Programme and FAO/WHO Coordinating Committee for North America and the South West Pacific was support of the PHAMA program and the Papua New Guinea Government.
Vanuatu’s Deputy Prime Minister Joe Natuman reminded delegates that the FAO Codex Alimentarius was important to the Pacific, especially in the development of food standards and safety procedures.
The Codex Alimentarius or Food Code’ is about food safety for everyone across the world.
Established by the FAO and the World Health Organization in 1963 to develop harmonised international food standards, the Codex Alimentarius was set up to protect consumer health and promote fair practices in food trade.
If the Pacific can meet the codex standards, exports of kava from the region to the global market should become easier.
Until now, the varying standards across the region have allowed international players to stop kava imports citing non-compliance with health regulations.
PNG Agriculture and Livestock Minister, Tommy Tomscoll, said Pacific Islands needed to work together to solve the challenges of improving value chains to also become food safe value chains.
He acknowledged that the Codex Alimentarius was the appropriate global partner for the Pacific Island Countries to set relevant standards.
