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The Cannabis Regulation Act passed in February 2020.

The Cannabis Act passed in Malawi in February 2020. Thereafter the bill was assented by the then President in May 2020. From this Act, the Government of Malawi will develop regulations for legal hemp cultivation that outline industry stipulations more preciously. We do already know some things including the licence fees structure which was released in November 2020.

 

The Act

The Cannabis Act tells us some of the stipulations of obtaining a cannabis license, about its validity, eligibility criteria and who the regulatory body overseeing it will be and what the CRA’s remit will entail.

License Fees

Licenses will be issued on a rolling basis and have a one year validity. Comparative to our neighbouring countries and the global value of the industrial hemp and medical cannabis industries, fees are set at a price point to encourage the industry to develop quickly. Farmers will be encouraged to create cooperatives and partner with larger processing companies. There will be hefty fines for any infractions. These could be as much as 50 million MWK. This is to encourage all legal growers to have good working practices and enforce harsher penalties on illegal growing, including chamba. Read the full fee structure.

Eligibility

To be issued an annual license, in addition to paying a fee, growers and processors must be able to prove they already have a market for their product. That is an off-taker such as a extract, flour, hempcrete, fabric, cosmetic, soap or papermaking company. They also need to provide GPS details of their growing space, preferred seed varieties and an extensive business plan. This is to ensure a stable, high quality, fairly-priced growing environment for farmers. The legal cannabis grown must have a 1% THC limit. To regulate this, growers issued licenses will only be able to grow product from certified seeds, such as those sold by ICA member, Invegrow. This means not just any chamba seed can be used. Learn more about the process of obtain a license in this Youtube video.

Regulator

Licenses will be issued by the Cannabis Regulatory Authority. For specific information contact the CRA Director General on +265991386779 or ketulosalipira@gmail.com. The Board Secretariat will be based at the Chitedze Agriculture Research Station. This is along Airwing, 15km west of Lilongwe city centre, down Mchinji Road. They are based at DARS as this is where seed variety trails took place from 2016-2019. For more on this, DARS phone number is: +2651707222 or email agric-research@sdnp.org.mw or dars.secretary@dars.mw.

Hear from the CRA Director General about getting started in Malawi’s hemp industry and the license application process

 
 
 

ICA Chairman 'Dr.Gama Explains' video series


Interesting reading

 

HEMP ASSOCIATIONS AROUND THE WORLD


PDF ARTICLES & BOOKS

WEBSITES WITH BLOGS AND INFORMATION

 

Online courses

 
 

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