GERMANY’s kava ban is political and not scientific in nature, said German kava scientist Dr Mathias Schmidt.
Speaking to The Fiji Times of the now 24-year old ban by Germany’s Federal Institute for Drugs and Medical Devices or BfArM, Dr Schmidt suggested Fiji and other kava producing countries in the Pacific should seek diplomatic help from Germany’s Minister of Foreign Affairs as well as the European Union as the scientific community is not aware that the ban was not scientifically but politically motivated.
“I think the EU isn’t aware of the situation,” Dr Schmidt said of a ban that began with the report of eight cases of liver toxicity in Switzerland in February 2000 linked to kava extract containing medication imported from Germany.
“The EU followed the German ban in 2001 because Germany was known to be very thorough and Germany is known to take very well considered decisions but in the case of kava, it was not the case. In that case it was an arbitrary decision and still people do not know about that.
“I’ve been talking to scientists in many European countries and they were not aware that it was a political issue and not a scientific one.”
It’s a conviction that the German pharmacist and kava researcher has held for many years now and in a previous presentation on this argument, Dr Schmidt said all indications were that kava became a victim of the precautionary principle.
“EU regulations give the responsibility of consumer protection to the authorities,” he said.
“In such cases the authorities tend to overreact. The decision (to ban kava) was accompanied by a massive media campaign. Shortly before Kava was banned, BfArM was accused of not having reacted in time in the Lipobay disaster. They learned their lesson. Not deciding means to take the heat from the media.
“Deciding against kava meant ‘selling’ the decision to the consumer as a measure taken for his best interest. Once taken, BfArM seems unwilling to correct its actions for fear of losing face,” Dr Schmidt said.
Despite the ban being overturned by Germany’s administrative court in 2014, it is still being blocked to this day by BfArM.
