(Updates with health regulator position)
By Diego Ore
MEXICO CITY, March 9 (Reuters) – The Mexican subsidiary of Canadian firm Xebra Brands has become the first company to obtain permits from authorities in the Latin American country to cultivate, process, produce and market marijuana for industrial purposes, the Canadian stock exchange-listed firm reported Thursday.
At the end of 2021, the Supreme Court made Xebra’s subsidiary in Mexico, Desart MX, the first company in the country authorized to import seeds, cultivate, process, manufacture, sell and export cannabis products containing 1% or less of THC, the psychoactive substance. From the factory.
However, final approval did not come until February 28 when the Federal Commission for Protection against Health Risks (Cofepris) granted authorization to Xebra. This week, the company received the final communication from the Supreme Court.
The company detailed in a statement that there are no restrictions on where you can grow cannabis in Mexico or on the size of cultivation facilities or the volume of processing and manufacturing operations.
In the past, the company told Reuters it was looking for land in central Mexico state and Mérida in the eastern Yucatán Peninsula to grow the plant and build a facility. extraction.
“This represents an important moment for cannabis globally with the first authorization for full cultivation, harvesting, processing and business operations by one company in Mexico,” said Jay Garnett, CEO of Xebra Brands, as quoted in a release of the signature.
Later, Cofepris issued a joint statement with the Ministry of the Interior (Segob) where it assured that it was obliged to issue the authorization but that “it does not have enough information to determine that this product is safe for the purposes the multinational intends to use it”.
A government source told Reuters that the company mentioned in the statement is Xebra.
“Because of the serious risk to health represented by an authorization of this type (…) appeals for contestation and contestation have been filed (…) with which they seek to have the authorization canceled and invalidated in order to protect people’s health,” said Cofepris and Segob.
In an interview with Reuters at the end of 2021, Xebra President Robert Giustra assured that the permits will pave the way for the legalization of marijuana and position Mexico as the most important player in this industry in North America.
Earlier that year, Mexican lawmakers approved legislation to decriminalize cannabis for recreational, scientific, medical and industrial purposes, a milestone in a country plagued by drug cartel violence. However, the rule was blocked in the Senate.
Some players in the nascent but million-dollar legal cannabis industry, such as Khiron Life Sciences, Canopy Growth and The Green Organic Dutchman, from Canada; and a Californian Medical Marijuana unit, have expressed a desire to enter Mexico.
According to recent reports, the global legal marijuana market could reach $73.6 billion by 2027 and Mexico, with its 126 million inhabitants, would be the largest market in terms of population. (Reporting by Diego Oré; Editing by Adriana Barrera)