EU Approves Marijuana From Uganda

A team of the European Union inspectors have approved Uganda's medical marijuana products, paving the way for local cannabis growers to tap into the global legal marijuana market.

The Daily Monitor reported that a team of medical cannabis inspectors from the Netherlands inspected marijuana gardens in Hima, Kasese District between July 29 and August 4. They later issued a certificate of compliance to Industrial Globus Uganda Ltd which will be valid till August 2020.

Mr Benjamin Cadet,  Director at Industrial Globus Uganda confirmed the EU approval and explained that Industrial Globus Uganda Ltd is a joint venture between Industrial Hemp Uganda and Together Pharma of Israel.

"Control Union Certifications is the EU mandated body for certification of the medical cannabis. Now that EU has approved our products- the medical marijuana exports and the entire manufacturing chain- from planting to harvest and its products are going to be exported from Uganda to European markets," Mr Cadet said.

Meanwhile, at least 50 companies have applied for certification through the Ministry of Health to join Industrial Globus Uganda Ltd as growers of marijuana for medical purposes.

The marijuana exports from a farm in Kasese District include Cannabinol (CBD) and Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) with a mixture of 2.7mg THC and 2.5mg CBD for Sativex drugs approved in USA, Europe and Canada. Oil Risin contain Dronabinol for making Marinol and syndros capsules and CBD enriched creams for various skin disorders.

The EU inspectors also certified WHO-GAP (Guidelines on good agricultural and collection practices (GACP) for medicinal plants; EMEA (Europe, the Middle East and Africa) -Guideline on GAP and GACP for Herbal Medicinal plants. They also approved propagation through cloning of vegetal material, cultivation, harvesting, drying, curing, packaging and storage of cannabis inflorescences for medical use.

"Control Union Certifications declares that the production of the products mentioned on this certificate has been found to be compliant in accordance with the standard," a certificate issued on August 6 by Udi Gabay on behalf of the managing director reads in part.

In June, Industrial Globus Uganda missed an opportunity to export medical marijuana products to Canada and Germany worth Shs600b because it had not secured the required approvals from the EU.

This is not the first time export of such nature is happening as the Daily Monitor reports that the country exported unprocessed cannabis buds/ flowers to the National Analytical Forensic Services in South Africa in December 2017 in a $10,000 order made to the Industrial Hemp (Uganda) Ltd, the local partner in Industrial Globus Uganda venture.

Header Image Credit: Face2Face Africa