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.”
“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.
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