The Regulated Substances Authority (RSA) of Saint Lucia has selected GrowerIQ as the developer for the seed-to-sale traceability platform for the emerging cannabis and industrial hemp industry, following a formal request-for-proposals process.
The contract makes Saint Lucia the second Caribbean nation to adopt GrowerIQ for national-level cannabis oversight, following Barbados. Under the agreement, GrowerIQ will provide end-to-end digital traceability covering cultivation, processing, distribution, testing, and retail for all licensed operators in the country.
Saint Lucia is building its cannabis regulatory infrastructure from the ground up. Rather than retrofitting paper-based systems, as many jurisdictions in North America were forced to do years after legalization, the RSA opted to launch with full digital traceability from day one, covering cultivators, processors, and dispensaries.
"We were very deliberate and intentional in our vision to establish the regime with industry best practice technology and believe that we have selected a technology partner that aligns with our vision for an innovative, inclusive, transparent and high-quality industry that will satisfy our local and international stakeholders and partners," said Dylan Norbert-Inglis, CEO of the Regulated Substances Authority. "The proposals and presentations from the interested developers made it clear that we were right to implement such a platform from the inception of the industry, and GrowerIQ's proven track record in similar regulatory environments, combined with its ability to support our unique Central Trading Entity model, and intention to expand to other substances and use cases, made the decision easy."
Saint Lucia's cannabis programme includes a Central Trading Entity (CTE) structure designed to maintain quality standards, support local producers and legacy cannabis operators and ensure significant economic benefits from the industry. The model requires a traceability platform capable of tracking product from individual cultivators through centralized processing and onward to retail and export channels.
The RSA, established under the Regulated Substances Act of 2023, is the umbrella regulator responsible for cannabis, industrial hemp, and several other regulated substance categories. The authority has moved to put compliance infrastructure in place ahead of the Regulated Substances (Cannabis) Bill, which will establish the full licensing framework.
"Governments that build digital traceability into their programmes from the start avoid the costly retrofits we've seen in more mature markets," said Andrew Wilson, CEO of GrowerIQ. "Saint Lucia and the RSA are setting a standard that other nations in the region and beyond should look at closely."
GrowerIQ's platform supports compliance with EU-GMP and GACP workflows, and operates in more than 24 countries and seven languages. The company was selected by Barbados through a competitive global RFP in 2023 and was chosen to represent Team Canada on the 2025 Official Trade Mission to Australia.
For more information:
GrowerIQ
www.groweriq.ca
