Brazil: Brasilia Federal Court authorizes hemp cultivation

While Brazil last week rejected the possibility of growing cannabis for medical purposes, the Federal Court in Brasília subsequently authorized a Brazilian company to grow hemp containing less than 0.3% of THC, a first for the country.

Cannabis cultivation is legal but not permitted

Brazilian law prohibits the cultivation of plants from which «drugs can be produced or extracted,» but allows for authorizations «exclusively for medicinal or scientific purposes.» ANVISA, Brazil’s National Health Surveillance Agency, is, however, blocking this initiative, just as it did last week regarding the potential nationwide cultivation of medical cannabis. In this regard, hemp is treated the same as cannabis and, to date, its cultivation remains prohibited.

The ruling by the Federal Court in Brasília authorized Schoenmaker Humanko, of Terra Viva, a major Brazilian horticultural company, to import hemp seeds of various varieties containing less than 0.3% of THC for cultivation in Brazil.

In his ruling, the judge authorized the company to «sell the seeds, leaves, and fibers exclusively for industrial purposes, including as inputs,» under the supervision of the Ministry of Agriculture and ANVISA.

Judge Renato Coelho Borelli stated in the ruling that hemp cannot be treated as «marijuana» because the company «does not intend to use it for medicinal or pharmaceutical purposes, but only to import and cultivate seeds in order to subsequently sell various products for industrial purposes.»

However, the company could supply its hemp to Brazilian pharmaceutical companies and have it used as an ingredient in hemp-based medications, according to the trade magazine Exam.

The court's decision is provisional and may be appealed.