Costa Rica legalized hemp last March. Under the rules communicated last week, hemp cultivation and production licenses will be inexpensive and widely available.
Cultivation and trade licenses, renewable every six years, will be granted to farmers and other operators in the supply chain. And the limit of THC in hemp is set at 1.0%, and therefore an easier production of CBD in the country, the amount of cannabidiol in hemp goes hand in hand with that of THC.
Scope of rules
Natural and legal persons are authorized to cultivate and process hemp, in accordance with the framework, which sets and centralizes the specific rules applicable to post-harvest, storage, transport, product manufacturing, marketing, import and export of sanitary, food and industrial products.
The Ministry of Agriculture (MAG) will control the granting of licenses for the import and reproduction of crop seeds with the Costa Rican Social Security Fund (CRSS), which is responsible for most of the health sector country, or authorized laboratories or other entities. These licenses are only accessible to organizations such as cantonal agricultural centers, associations of small and medium producers, cooperatives and indigenous development associations, MAG said.
A very simple rule
“These are very simple regulations,” said Costa Rican President Rodrigo Chaves Robles. “The licenses won’t cost more than a token amount and anyone willing and able to comply with the law will be able to plant (hemp) and be able to process it. »
Hemp advocates in Costa Rica say creating a robust hemp sector can spur the development of agricultural value chains by bringing economic and social opportunities to rural areas of the country, and contribute to the growth of the pharmaceutical industry. .
The president said his office is preparing legislation to set out those rules, with the goal of presenting it to the Legislative Assembly no later than Nov. 1. The rules will then come into force after they are published in the official government gazette.
The Costa Rican government has also confirmed that it is preparing a bill to legalize cannabis.
