By Baron Henri Estramant.
The global trade of kava should be worth at least € 70-75 million for the South Pacific countries of Tonga, Samoa, Fiji, Vanuatu, the Solomon Islands, Papua New Guinea and the Federated States of Micronesia (Pohnpei), however, the much needed revenue for the Pacific Ocean region has declined dramatically since Germany and other EU countries withdrew their market license to all kava-containing pills or pharmaceuticals.
In the South Pacific vox populi it is simply referred to as a de facto “ban”. Nevertheless a true EU-wide ban is not in place as the spokesperson for the EU’s Health Directorate General Frédéric Vincent clarified, rather restrictions apply in some EU member states.
Likewise the global the trade has been badly damaged in the USA since the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as well as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) published a report admonishing about the potential perils of kava consumption for the liver. Notwithstanding the negotiations led by the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat (PIFS), as well as “bilaterally” with the individual kava-growing states begin to bear fruits. Indeed, Vanuatu’s Ambassador to the EU, Roy Mickey Joy.
Piper methysticum under its scientific name or simply kava is an herb endemic to the South Pacific Ocean region. It is commonly used to prepare traditional beverages known for its relaxation effects. Kava is also widely used in rites of passage, political, religious or ceremonial rituals dating back to at least the 10th century. But aside the cultural importance of kava in the South Pacific the international trade thereof is badly needed for countries with very few indigenous resources in large scale to export.
Trading kava to EU countries as well as to the USA and Canada is “vital” according to Vanuatu’s Ambassador Roy Mickey Joy. For “the economies of the South Pacific the trade is vital in European markets because Europeans are seeking alternative natural or rather herbal remedies for reducing anxiety, sleeplessness, pain, and depression” .
But even on the other side of the Atlantic, a consumer advisory dated March 25, 2002 of the US American FDA further warns “of the potential risk of severe liver injury associated with the use of kava-containing dietary supplements”. The FDA position remains unchanged mainly because producers manufacturing kava-containing pharmaceuticals “cannot quantify the popularity of kava use by consumers” .
The FDA has not called for an outright ban on kava based pharmaceuticals/products as it exists in Canada yet it believes it is mission to inform consumers about the alleged “liver-related risks associated with the consumption of it. Kava-containing products have been associated with liver-related injuries – including hepatitis, cirrhosis, and liver failure — in over 25 reports of adverse events in other countries”.
The presence of kava in a supplement should be identified on the product label in the “Supplement Facts” box. Having the latter into account, the “FDA has seen somewhat of a resurgence of products containing kava on the market. After FDA released the consumer advisory in 2002, there seemed to have been a decline in the availability of products due to lack of product liability insurance” according to Media Officer Christopher C. Kelly from the FDA.
The ban in Canada was a result of the “ban” (in fact restrictions) in some EU countries rather than own scientific research. The license for kava-containing was withdrawn for pharmaceuticals in France, Switzerland, the UK or The Netherlands without home-made research after the German Bundesinstitut für Arzneimittel und Medizinprodukte (BfArM) did so first. Exporters from the South Pacific continue to fight the “EU ban” on pharmaceutical products based on kava. They consider it to be a violation of the international trade agreements with the WTO. Back in 2005, Fiji even presented a formal complaint to the WTO buttressed up by Tonga.
According to figures provided by Fiji “only three cases have emerged out of 450 million pills dispensed worldwide between 1990 and 2000”. In the South Pacific kava has been consumed quotidian without any adverse health effects on the population for centuries. As a matter of fact, it guarantees social cohesion and harmony because it is consumed au lieu of alcohol. “By 10pm Pacific Islanders sleep soundly after an evening of kava consumption. Crime is almost non-existent”.
All in all about 3.500 kava farmers/exporters in the entire South Pacific are dependent on exports to EU countries, the USA, Australia and New Zealand. Trade with South America or Asia is negligible largely due to the own culture for indigenous herbal products in those markets according to Ambassador Roy Mickey Joy.
Alternative markets in China and New Caledonia have not proved to be as profitable.
Even the UK with excellent ties to most South Pacific countries has seen it fit to prohibit medicines manufactured with kava since 2002. Yet the ban does not apply if the kava-kava products were manufactured in a European Economic Area (EEA)/EU country or are in free circulation there. Yet one should notice that one liver-damaging extract of a sort known as WS 1490 had been processed in Germany by Dr. Willmar Schwabe Pharmaceuticals headquartered in Karlsruhe. “This company refused to give samples of extracts to the scientific community for in-depth chemical analysis. It has been suggested that these events were caused by the poor quality raw material or incorrect kava parts in the manufacture of a few extracts”. Schwabe counteracts that “after the ban of Kava products and the loss of commercial interest Schwabe stopped all activities concerning Kava and thus did not provide samples for investigations”.
A German study from 2008 showed that the hepatotoxicity which damages the liver may be caused by contamination with aflatoxins or other mould hepatotoxins rather than by the kava plants themselves. The recommendation therefore is only to export the noblest (purest) kava herbs, greater quality control during production of derived products as well as the consumption of products with care.
One should also beware that there are about 100 varieties of kava, and that those which caused the liver-damage might be isolated extracts. Notwithstanding pharmacist Dr. Matthias Schmidt, a kava expert, from “HerbResearch” based in Bavaria bemoans the lack of interest of German health authorities in reintroducing kava to the German market. According to him at scientific kava conferences “German authorities have shined through their absence”. On the other hand EU representatives attended the kava conference which took place in March 2012 in Vanuatu. Nonetheless no representatives were present at the latest kava conference in Suva on 6 March 2014
The Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat concerns with the proliferation of strict regulations for kava worldwide set up the International Kava Executive Committee, which seeks ways to get the restrictions in some EU countries lifted. They see an immediate –conservative- potential of about €4 million just in kava trade to the EU if the restrictions are lifted in Germany, the UK, France and Switzerland. One should notice that the market of most EU countries are technically open for kava, yet the contact with countries in the South, North and Centre of Europe is limited economically and diplomatically .
Kava pharmaceuticals have been classified as “new entity” in Germany which entails that firstly extremely expensive research must be financed to get the pharmaceuticals approve. “The purpose must be to keep kava-containing medicines out of the free market. It does not seem to matter that the EU position only triggers disapproval outside the EU”. The kava advocates rhetoric is misleading as EU wide restrictions are not in place.
Vanuatu alone exports about € 0.32 million worth in kava nowadays as opposed to the € 1.34 million before kava restrictions began to sprawl up. Statistics show the total loss of economic commercial value due to the trade restrictions ranges at least between 150 and 200 million dollars, in the last ten years”.
Kava trade to Australia and New Zealand is free though imports for personal use are limited in a similar fashion to alcohol or tobacco in Australia. Australia’s Northern Territory does have a ban to supply or possess kava because it was used as a substitute for alcohol in large quantities by locals. In New Zealand the trade is easier because of the large population of Polynesians living there.
The International Kava Council is particularly active in Brussels (EU level), London as well as neighbouring New Zealand and Australia. A viable solution to for the relicensing of kava pharmaceuticals might be to reintroduce the export of raw kava for its further handling in Europe, the USA, Australia and New Zealand through strict guidelines as to ensure the safe products for the consumers. Some of the recommendations made by the kava producing countries are i) the usage of underground roots and the peeled stump as opposed to leaves, stems and basal stems, ii) give water soluble kava extracts preference over those extracted with chemical solvents, and iii) define and establish standards for a recommended daily dosage of kavalactones .
Kava producing countries are likewise negotiating with the FAO to include kava-kava in the list of foodstuff so it can be treated just like any other alimentary product .
The Pacific African Caribbean Pacific (PACP) Kava Initiative to resolve outstanding issues on Kava wistfully calls upon the EU to finance with about ca. € 11 million , a “Kava Sustainability Plan” which ought to include the reintroduction of kava-containing pharmaceuticals to the markets of the EU countries with present restrictions on it. The negotiations take place in the framework of an Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) with the EU. If the EU is willing to finance such developmental programme remains to be seen.
