Authority seeks ease for small cannabis farmers

Small cultivators of cannabis will be able to import their first shipment of plant material to start their operations without having to pay the requisite fee if the Barbados Medicinal Cannabis Licensing Authority (BMCLA) is successful in its efforts to lobby on their behalf.

Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Dr. Shantal Munro-Knight said the BMCLA is working closely with the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security on that, as well as to establish a cannabis seed amnesty.

“The BMCLA is working towards having small cultivators submit an import authorization form as part of their operations so that for the first import, the fee would be waived,” she said during the BMCLA’s first virtual Dialogue with the Diaspora recently.

“Having the first import fee waived would assist the small farmer to get planting materials needed – seeds, tissue culture, plants – in hand to get their operations off the ground.”

During the near three-hour interactive webinar, Munro-Knight noted that the BMCLA was also working to facilitate a seed amnesty.

“Currently, all cannabis seeds within Barbados are considered illegal. Based on the regulatory framework, these seeds cannot be used within the medicinal cannabis industry. Hence, we are working with the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security to present a paper to Cabinet to support the need for a seed amnesty, which would allow persons to bring in their seeds to be tested, categorized and registered for use in the legal industry,” she explained.

Dr Munro-Knight stated that it was part and parcel of the BMCLA collaborating closely with Minister of Agriculture and Food Security Indar Weir, via the Board, to include small farmers while looking ahead towards a growth strategy for the medicinal cannabis industry.

The CEO reiterated that the Authority is committed to ensuring that there is a full ecosystem of support for the small players in the industry.

This support, she said, included specialized training attained via the National Vocational Qualification (NVQ) in cultivation through the Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) Council, access to technical input – some of which already occurred via the BMCLA’s cultivation and processor forums – as well as technical assistance and funding.

“It just takes time as there is a process in place. However, we have an incredibly supportive Board and Minister, and we are working assiduously together to be integrative, innovative, inclusive, and transparent for the industry to move forward; but again, it takes time. We will only be a year-old next month and in that time, we have been learning, growing and improving ” Munro-Knight said.

She also told the Diaspora that the Board had set up a National Advisory Committee, led by Dr Damian Cohall, that was tasked to provide advice and recommendation on the future direction of the cannabis industry in three core areas: an assessment of the development of a hemp industry in Barbados; a review of the framework of facilitating small potential local investors and entrepreneurs; and the roll-out of a germplasm bank.

She urged the 100-plus persons in virtual attendance at the webinar to reach out to the BMCLA if they were interested in investing back in Barbados, whether it was direct investment which could be 100 per cent ownership/at least 30 per cent direct ownership into any foreign partnership, or via land, commercial building, or financial investment.

She also advised them to ensure they do their due diligence.

The top BMCLA official said there was also genuine interest in public-private partnerships to propel innovation within the medicinal cannabis industry.

The discussion also saw the participation of Consuls General Sonia Marville-Carter in Toronto, Navel Greenidge in Florida, Mackie Holder in New York, and High Commissioner Glyne Clarke in Ottawa, Canada and Barbados’ Ambassador to the US Noel Lynch and his team in Washington D.C. (DP/PR)