APIA, Samoa (Samoa Observer, Jan. 4, 2015) – The man responsible for banning ava in Germany, costing the regional industry $6.9 billion tala [US$2.9 billion], has back flipped on his original decision. In an article published in Apotheke Adhoc last month, Professor Harald G. Schweim is quoted as saying the facts behind the ban were not as clear as originally assumed. Prof. Schweim was the President of the country’s medical regulatory body the Federal Institute for Drugs and Medical Devices – in German Bundesinstitut für Arzneimittel und Medizinprodukte (BfArM) – when the 2002 ban was instigated. Chairman of the International Kava Executive Council (I.K.E.C.) Tagaloa Eddie Wilson says the public comments made by the Prof. have given the ava industry here in the Pacific hope. He says the original article focussed on the current tendency of blowing up the significance of small safety issues to overwhelming proportions in order to justify regulatory action taken for consumer protection. “Even though in most cases the alternatives tend to be much more dangerous than the examined issue itself,” Tagaloa says. “Prof. Schweim blamed the authorities and the politicians for just making a show to justify their existence. In this context the journalist specifically asked about kava [sic], as this was banned under the responsibility of Prof. Schweim.”
