The Germans had banned it for a number of years; it was lifted by a court fairly recently.
Kava Europe does ship there; they might have more information on its official status. They label it as not for human consumption, but for "research purposes", but it is perfectly good kava, that, theoretically could be consumed by humans. lol
I wasn't clear if all kava, including powdered root was completely legitimate there yet, or of it was considered a "medicine" that could only be sold as extract tablets..
Aber dann werden sie keine Spielzeuge in ihren Kinderwagen haben. Das einzige, was zu tun, dann wird es sein, ein Nickerchen zu machen, oder weinen, weil sie keine Spielzeuge.
Yeah but look at it this way. Good beer and bratwurst every Saturday. Plus, das frauleins vunderbar! :-Dit looks like there is a good chance i will be moving to germany in a few months. does anybody know the facts on kava there now? from what i seemed to gather it does not appear to be totally illegal anymore, but it does not seem to be legal to have it shipped over? is this true. what a bummer if it is.
That's why I love having the "nutritional supplement" category in the US: it's not a food, not a drug or medicine; we don't know what the heck it is actually, so we'll allow it to be imported.
So do you happen to know, if your kava is confiscated, would the person receiving it be fined, like the OP here is concerned about?
Do you know where it says specifically that kava is illegal as food, or, let's say, as a "not for human consumption" product?
in Germany this is "Nahrungsergänzungsmittel". But it doesn't matter how it is named - the health authorities decides how to classify it. The customs forwards a suspected item to these authotities.That's why I love having the "nutritional supplement" category in the US: it's not a food, not a drug or medicine; we don't know what the heck it is actually, so we'll allow it to be imported.
yes, this may happen. The first important thing is: Do the authorities classify it as food or medicine? If they see it as medicine, it is a law-break against the 'Bundesarzneimittelgesetz'. I known Germans who had to pay a few hundred Euros. In few cases even 2.000 Euro.
I had this discussion with the health authority of Hamburg. Kava has no authorization/certification as food. It is not on the list of allowed food, so it is not importable.
What about importing kava "not for human consumption"? E.g. for your garden or as pet food?
Germany has many laws and regulations. I am frightened that there is also one that prohibits importing of 'suspected' plants. I would like to test this, but is there any vendor who ships whole roots? I think the problem will be the postage - make sit probably uneconomical.
