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Costa Rica awards 57 permits for cultivation, production of hemp


Two years after beginning the process, Costa Rica has finalized the licensing for businesses seeking to cultivate and produce hemp-derived products.

The Central American country’s Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock (MAG) on Sept. 3 awarded 57 licenses for the two categories, according to The Tico Times.

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The licenses are good for six years.

Most of the licenses have been awarded to businesses in Costa Rica’s capital city, San Jose, and the province of Guanacaste, the Times reported, citing MAG data.

Costa Rican officials issued the first business license for hemp-derived products on Nov. 8, 2022, to a company named Ingenio Taboga.

A public university, the San Jose-based National University of Costa Rica, was among the early licensees, earning a research license in August 2023, according to the Times.

The Costa Rican government legalized hemp and medical marijuana in March 2022, but progress has been slow.

“What I believe is that we have to walk before we run,” Roy Thompson of the Hemp and Cannabis Council of Costa Rica told the Times.

“We need to build testing and processing infrastructure so that various actors and companies can integrate into the system and produce according to standards and requirements.”

He told the news outlet that hemp production in Cost Rica country is low and “primarily focused on oil production or CBD extraction for medicinal purposes.”

According to Costa Rica Immigration Experts, the MAG stipulates that hemp products can contain up to 1.0% THC but suggests “keeping CBD levels below 0.03% to avoid psychoactive effects.”

The MAG issued Costa Rica’s first medical marijuana license in May 2o23 to a company called Azul Wellness S.A.

Information about Costa Rica’s hemp and marijuana laws is available on the MAG website.



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