Israel exports its first hemp seeds to the United States

A shipment of hemp seeds was exported from Israel for the very first time. The shipment, which left for the United States last week, was an «experimental and initial» shipment, the Israeli Ministry of Agriculture said in a statement on Wednesday.

«Israel has the ability to make its mark on the industry and rank among the world's leaders,» said completed Israeli Minister of Agriculture Oded Forer.

«The export of cannabis seeds allows us to broaden the diversity of Israeli agricultural exports and strengthens local agriculture,» added Oded Forer. It «also capitalizes on Israel’s comparative advantage in a field that is still considered nascent,» he added.

The shipment contained seeds produced by the Israeli company BetterSeeds, which claims to have created «the world’s first stable and uniform cannabis seeds.».

«I hope that once they’re truly impressed by the performance of our genetics, we’ll start receiving orders,« said Ido Margalit, founder and CEO of BetterSeeds.

Margalit emphasized that simply exporting this experimental shipment was a real feat. «We couldn’t even show customers outside Israel what we do, because it was legally impossible to do so,» he said, referring to on the latest laws regarding the export of medical cannabis to which hemp varieties are classified.

«By using our seeds,» he continues, «they will achieve the consistency they need—something they cannot achieve today with their own seeds.»

«The only challenge,» Margalit added, "is that for us, producing hemp seeds in Israel is quite expensive because the current regulations for medical cannabis also apply to hemp."

Oded Forer stated in the press release that authorizing cannabis seed exports will benefit Israeli companies.

«Expanding the range of exports to include cannabis products will allow us to deepen our presence in existing markets and enter new ones, while capitalizing on the growing wave of demand for medical cannabis products«, he said.