Vanuatu Exports

The agriculture minister, Matai Seremiah, described the country's export dilemmas at the Pacific Week of Agriculture conference in Port Vila.

Mr Seremiah said Vanuatu was running short of kava due to increased demand locally and internationally.

The recent El Nino weather pattern and 2015's Cyclone Pam compounded the shortage by curtailing production.

Islands Business reported plans to boost production of high quality kava were already underway.

On beef, Mr Nawalu said his ministry was continuing with plans to increase cattle numbers.

The agriculture minister Matai Seremaiah has called for Sarami Plantation's export license to be terminated following concerns the firm was shipping so-called two day kava to the United States.

A German scientist, Mathias Schmidt, who helped Vanuatu lift a ten-year kava ban in Europe, has complained the company exported the tainted kava allegedly mixed with earth, kava leaves and stalks to the US via New Zealand.

Dr Schmidt said more than one person in Vanuatu must be turning a blind eye to the quality of kava exports to the US.

P2M is PT&I’s export capability building programme that combines the range of export facilitation services and expertise provided by PT&I to help export ready and export capable businesses enter new export markets.

This was the first step in a six-step programme aimed at assisting Vanuatu businesses build their capability to enter the New Zealand market.

 The New Zealand market was a focus of the seminar which promoted and provided information on the opportunity that exporting to New Zealand provides.