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"Huge demands depleting Vanuatu kava, beef"

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verticity

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Article from One Papua New Guinea News:
http://www.onepng.com/2017/10/huge-demands-depleting-vanuatu-kava-beef.html

Quote:
"The island nation’s minister for agriculture, Matai Seremiah Nawalu confirmed this as he hosts the Pacific’s first-ever Week of Agriculture this week.

“In Vanuatu, we are running short of kava,” said Minister Nawalu. “The demand for kava is ever increasing. In the US, there are more than 100 kava bars and already they are raising concerns about the supplies of kava. The El Nino (weather pattern) and Cyclone Pam (in 2015) have not helped kava production either.”

Plans aimed at boosting the production of kava labelled by Minister Nawalu as Vanuatu’s “green gold” are already in motion. His Director General in agriculture, Benjamin Shing said a bill has been sent through to parliament to address quantity as well as quality issues.

This bill DG Shing said would also put a stop to the current illegal practice where Vanuatu kava is exported to Fiji, only for it to be repackaged and re-exported by Fiji as Fijian kava."

The remarks about "putting a stop" to the "illegal practice" of Vanuatu kava exported to Fiji being re-sold as Fijian kava is interesting. It's not clear what law the Director General thinks is being broken. Surely it is perfectly legal to export kava from Vanuatu to Fiji. Is he saying it is against Fijian law to sell kava from Vanuatu labeled as being from Fiji? And if so, how can Vanuatu's government have any influence on the disposition of kava after it is sold to Fiji? Fiji has purchased it so it would seem to be up to them to regulate how it is marketed. Or is he implying that tudei kava is being exported to Fiji, which would be illegal under Vanuatu law?
 
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kasa_balavu

Yaqona Dina
Could he be referring to US law? Faking country of origin in your import documentation is a sure-fire way to get your goods confiscated.
Of course in this case one would wonder about the motive for such a thing. The US doesn't impose duties on Vanuatu kava.

Politicians and bureaucrats here say silly things all the time though, so you can take this to mean "would also put a stop to the current very naughty practice where Vanuatu kava is exported..."
 
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