Organization

The International Kava Executive Council (IKEC) constitutes an international non-profit organization focusing on re-establishing the kava trade between the kava-producing South Pacific Island states and Europe. It consists of representatives of national pharmaceutical and herbal associations, scientific experts, kava growers and kava producers, and is comprised of delegates from both the Pacific and the EU. The Council was founded in November 2003, against the background of the dramatic socio-economic consequences for some of the least developed Pacific Island states, namely Fiji, Samoa, Tonga and Vanuatu, resulting from the highly criticised ban on kava products imposed by the health authorities of many European Member States.

The IKEC is operating in close cooperation with the governments of Fiji, Samoa, Tonga and Vanuatu, countries that have suffered enormous losses resulting from the kava ban, and who now see many development projects, which are part of the United Nations (UN) Millennium Development Goals (MDG), at risk.

It is primarily supported by CDE and PRO€INVEST. CDE (Centre for Development of Enterprise) is a joint EU-ACP institution devoted to private sector enterprise development in Africa, the Caribbean and the Pacific under the Cotonou Agreement. PRO€INVEST is a EU-ACP (Africa, Caribbean and Pacific) partnership programme developed and undertaken by the European Commission on behalf of the ACP countries. PRO€INVEST is managed by the CDE under the supervision of the EuropeAid Co-operation Office of the European Commission.

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Kava Report 2003

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