Good news for Samoan farmers with one of Germany’s highest courts lifting the nation’s 12-year ban on ava products.With the news breaking yesterday that the Federal Administrative Court of Germany found the ban both unreasonable and unlawful, Chairman of the International Kava Executive Council’s (I.K.E.C.) Tagaloa Eddie Wilson said the win was still sinking in.He said the ban, imposed by Germany’s Federal Institute for Drugs and Medical Devices (BfArM), stigmatised the herb and wrought damage on an industry worth around US$250,000 to the Pacific region before the embargo, as it severely curbed exports to not only the European Union (E.U.) but also the U.S.A.However, with this latest decision there is an opportunity for famers to once again pursue this revenue stream.“It is a huge export market and that was back in the late 1990s, 2000, imagine what it would have grown to if it was left to continue,” he said “So the potential is there for the Pacific Island farmers. For something that they can grow quite well in their back yard.“It is a bit like koko, the synergy is similar to koko.“ Samoans are passionate about growing koko for one reason is that we love drinking the stuff, we drink it every day.“Ava for the Pacific, farmers know how to grow ava for the simple reason they love drinking it.”Overwhelmed by the enormity of the Court’s decision, Tagaloa said it was a hard fought battle.One that saw I.K.E.C. commission further scientific research of the medicinal properties of ava and culminated with the German Pharmaceutical industry, a member of the Council, take the matter to to court, resulting in the above decision.Tagaloas aid the pharmaceutical industry had a vested interest in the herb due to its medicinal properties.“The pharmaceutical industry actually developed ava products that were eventually used,” he said.“At the time of the ban there were about 1.5 million people in Germany alone who were on an ava prescription.“So you can imagine that – that is 1.5 million in Germany alone, and the world was catching on, the U.S. was a big market.”However, according to the I.K.E.C. website the herb was banned BfArM due to a few reported cases of sever hepatotoxicity, which were possibly related to the intake of ava products.But with the court overturning BfArM’s decision, Tagaloa said he was excited about the doors this could open for the ava market.“We are excited because we have been there and done it,” he said.“Even though it is going to be hard work re-establishing it we have been there and done it.“And we have also learned from the lessons now.“So there are some big plusses in the sense that we have learned from that.“So now we are going to put in place the proper procedures and processes to ensure that quality control to ensure the right (types of ava) are propagated and grown.“And there is a lot of work being done.