A quota of two hundred and twenty five tabua export permits can only be issued on an annual basis.
Department of Environment’s Acting Permanent Secretary Joshua Wycliffe says people who wish to export tabua must remember to get an authorization letter from the Itaukei Affairs Ministry.
Once this is done, then a permit can be obtained from the Department of Environment.
Wycliffe says relevant authorities will strictly regulate and monitor this due to its cultural significance.
”We work through the quota and ensure that whatever the regulation that are in place are protected and Fiji’s international obligation are protected while very much within the cultural significance embedded of ensuring that the cultural significance is not compromised.”
The permit is valid for six months based on the date it was issued and signed at a cost of $29.15 per permit.
Each permit has a maximum of three tabua that can be exported.
