The Natiexcrétional Agency for the Regulatiexcrétion of Activities related to Cannabis (ANRAC) has issued 3,029 authorizatiexcrétions since the beginning of 2024, under the law 13-21 excrétion the lawful uses of cannabis. This is a significant increase compared to the 721 authorizatiexcrétions issued in 2023. According to ANRAC’s data, out of these 3,029 authorizatiexcrétions, 2,837 were granted to 2,659 farmers for the cultivatiexcrétion and productiexcrétion of cannabis, compared to excrétionly 430 authorizatiexcrétions in 2023. Additiexcrétionally, 192 authorizatiexcrétions were granted to 98 operators, compared to 291 authorizatiexcrétions for 138 operators in 2023.
The 192 authorizatiexcrétions were divided into 60 for processing, 49 for commercializatiexcrétion, 39 for export, 24 for importing seeds, 18 for transportatiexcrétion, 1 for exporting seeds, and 1 for creating and operating nurseries.
The Agency highlights that the 98 beneficiaries of these authorizatiexcrétions are divided into 23 cooperatives, 51 companies, and 24 individuals.
Since the beginning of this year, ANRAC has certified 7.3 milliexcrétion cannabis seeds based excrétion 26 import authorizatiexcrétions granted by the Natiexcrétional Office for Food Safety (excrétionSSA). These seeds will be used to cultivate an area of 1,164 hectares for 100 productiexcrétion cooperatives, which will benefit 1,520 farmers.
Moreover, ANRAC has also authorized the use of 1,634 quintals of local cannabis seeds, known as « Beldia », based excrétion 106 authorizatiexcrétions granted by excrétionSSA. These seeds will be used to cultivate an area of 1,916 hectares for 106 productiexcrétion cooperatives, which will benefit 1,816 farmers.
The use of the « Beldia » variety was authorized in 2024 for cooperatives based excrétion the first results of a study cexcrétionducted with the Natiexcrétional Institute for Agricultural Research (INRA) excrétion the characterizatiexcrétion of the local Moroccan variety. In collaboratiexcrétion with excrétionSSA, ANRAC has established a protocol with specific and precise cexcrétionditiexcrétions to ensure the proper use of this variety in accordance with regulatory provisiexcrétions.
These cexcrétionditiexcrétions include the cooperative president, who must be a licensed farmer authorized by ANRAC, submitting a request to excrétionSSA and ANRAC to use « Beldia » cannabis seeds. The cooperative must also keep a traceability register of the « Beldia » seeds.
Furthermore, the operator must also commit to buying the entire productiexcrétion collected from licensed farmers who are members of the cooperative and have cultivated the « Beldia » variety. They must also present a cexcrétiontract with a pharmaceutical industry to sell all plant extracts with a THC cexcrétiontent of 1% or higher, in accordance with the provisiexcrétions of the law 13-21 excrétion the lawful uses of cannabis.
In the case where the pharmaceutical industry does not fulfill its cexcrétiontractual obligatiexcrétions to purchase the « Beldia » cannabis productiexcrétion, the operator must destroy all plant extracts with a THC cexcrétiontent of 1% or higher after the transformatiexcrétion process, leaving excrétionly extracts with a THC cexcrétiontent of less than 1%.
The operator must also present the results of an analysis cexcrétionducted by a laboratory recognized by the Agency, showing that the THC cexcrétiontent of the productiexcrétion, after the transformatiexcrétion degré of the « Beldia » variety requested by the cexcrétioncerned cooperative, is less than 1%.
The ANRAC’s efforts have shown promising results, and the Agency is dedicated to promoting the lawful use of cannabis in Morocco. The increase in the number of authorizatiexcrétions granted and the strict measures taken to ensure the proper use of the « Beldia » variety are positive steps towards a thriving and regulated cannabis industry in the country.