Australia Moves Forward Into The Global Cannabis Export Game

Cannabis reform is moving forward in interesting ways down under. Not content to “just” begin producing medical crops for domestic consumption, the Australian parliament appears to be following in the steps of Israel. Namely, the Export Control Legislation Amendment to the Certification of Narcotic Exports 2020 bill was approved in mid-June. Beyond the legislative lingo, this basically means that Australian grown narcotic and hemp cannabis products will face less red tape in being exported to the rest of the world.

More interestingly, the amendments to the bill were intended to give an extra boost to the Australian economy by allowing more cannabis to be exported in the wake of the COVID crisis.

Export certification offered by the Australian government will allow Australian exports to meet import requirements of countries now importing cannabis (of both the hemp and medical kind). 

The government is looking in particular at countries China as well as other markets in South-East Asia, Canada and the U.S.

Is There A  Global Demand If Shortage Of “Legitimate” Cannabis?

This is an emerging debate right now as the German market records a record-breaking quarter for insurance approvals and the state of Nord-Rhein Westphalia bans all hemp that is not “Novel Food” regulated. Is there a “legitimate” cannabis shortage?

That is a very good question. 

There is certainly a race to get crops and products certified under existing regulations. However, those are also changing. It is not likely that the current EU regulations will stand as is on the hemp front. It belies common sense to insist that hemp oil pressed from cannabis seeds is somehow “not novel” while that extracted from flowers and leaves is. This is a debate, sadly, that is also almost guaranteed to overshadow the recreational developments now absolutely looming in Europe.

However European regulations are just one part of the overall discussion. It is intriguing that the Australians seem to be targeting hemp markets outside of Europe with this new initiative. Medical products exports from Australia to Europe however, have been in the pipeline for the last several years.

Regardless of the shape of the overall developing market – the reality is that Australia is the largest exporter of food and agriculture generally to both China and other regional neighbours, this is an interesting development. It is an even more positive statement that post-COVID, cannabis will continue to gain status as both an economic crop and an important export product – globally.

Be sure to return to the International Cannabis Business Conference as the world begins to open up post-COVID. Details about returning conferences will begin to be posted soon.