The Chamber of Medicinal Cannabis Companies (Cecam) warned of the “strong retraction of the industry” in Uruguay due to the “regulatory restrictions” that prevent the development of the sector.
Through a statement, Cecam denounced the difficult moment that the national medical cannabis industry is going through Despite the fact that at a global level “all projections point to growth in the global market for the cannabis industry with very encouraging rates in all its component items: medicinal, food, supplements, cosmetics and industrial markets, with very varied”.
According to the president of the Chamber, Ricardo Paez, whose word includes the text published by the institution, while the speed of development and the realization of expectations in all these areas depend on the way in which legislation advances in each country, the Legal issues They are the ones that stand as obstacles for the national sector.
Another problem is the inexistence of a global homogeneous market with respect to regulation, a situation that “conditions the commercial horizon” of Uruguayan companies, especially for those companies that focused on hemp production, without being clear about the final destination of their crops. In this regard, he reported that planted areas fell by 80% between the 2021/2022 and 2022/2023 seasons.
Exports, an outstanding debt of the industry that also finds no place in the local market
In the released statement, Cecam also pointed out that, in relation to exports, the main company is currently in concordat and the one that exported the most in terms of hemp was sold. As proof of this, they highlighted that in 2022 decreased the number of operating companies from 167 to 53.
For these companies unrestricted markets are Swiss and Czech Republic, that have a regulation with requirements similar to the local ones (THC level admitted < 1%). However, the rest of Europe it has set a THC level < 0.3%, with which, since it does not have adequate genetics, it cannot be sold to them,” Páez explained in the document.
“Today in Uruguay there are not many options for most of the entrepreneurs in the field”and even deal with an aggravating circumstance: “The prices paid for flowers have decreased“Today amounts close to 100 dollars per kg are paid, when three years ago figures six times higher were paid,” said the president of Cecam, since they do not raise the need to generate internal marketing options, which depends of the Executive power.
While it is true that Uruguay was a pioneer in terms of the sale of recreational cannabis, on the contrary, the use of this product medicinally slowed down due to regulatory issues, mainly “bureaucratic obstacles”. In this sense, Páez considered that in order to be pioneers again, it is “essential” to place the country in a position to produce and consume locally all the products that are marketed today.
For this, legislation is a key element, especially for the commercialization of cannabis in different forms and for different uses. In this regard, Cecam considers it essential to authorize foods with CBD, food supplements, and cosmetics with the presence of THC. “Internally, it is not very logical that flowers that are exported for consumption as a substitute for tobacco cannot be marketed, in the case of CBD, nor those that are exported for medicinal use with a high THC content. The latter have a therapeutic destination, why not use them for the same purpose in our country?” Páez questioned.
Finally, the head of the Chamber assured that the government at the time was interested in the industry getting ahead, but he said that, unfortunately, actions from the regulatory point of view were “very few”. In any case, he expressed that they will continue working to put this issue on the table to open the way for the industry.
Source: Ambito
