Latin America hemp CBD

In 2021, main producers included Colombia, Paraguay, Uruguay. Currently, CBD products commercialised in Mexico, Bahamas, Bermuda, Antigua and Barbuda, Aruba, Trinidad and Tobago, Colombia, Ecuador, Costa Rico, Peru, Paraguay, Chile, Uruguay, Argentina. The size of the Latin America cannabinoid-based products market has an estimated market value of about $200 million in 2021, mainly dominated by CBD sales and Latin America Hemp CBD Industry is projected to reach over $500 million by 2024 with over 50% of CBD products sales. Latin America hemp CBD

Argentina

The proposed law advocates whole-plant usage and exploitation of hemp for its health, environmental and economic development benefits. The hemp law would set the maximum THC level for Argentinian hemp at a full 1.0%.

Brazil

Hemp oil was legalised for medical cannabis products in 2015, however, Brazil does not allow its production within the country. Brazil is expecting Congress to vote on law PL399 in 2021, which if approved would authorize the production and marketing of products made from industrial hemp as long as they are not intended for medical use or marketed for “prophylactic, curative or palliative purposes.” It would clear the way for products in health and beauty, cellulose, fibres and non-medical veterinary as long as those products contain less than 0.3% THC with seeds would be allowed in foods.

Chile

In 2015, Chile’s president, Michelle Bachelet, signed a decree that removed cannabis from the ‘hard drug’ list. Medicinal cannabis and hemp-derived and marijuana-derived CBD were authorized for pharmaceutical products in December 2015.

Chile is expected to be the largest market in the region and would account for around 39% of Latin America’s industrial hemp market.

Colombia

In 2017, President Juan Manual Santos signed the decree 613 of 2017, permitting individuals and businesses to engage with the cannabis industry. There are 4 types of licenses for producing cannabis including cultivation of non-psychoactive cannabis plants. In Colombia, cultivars remain legal with a THC limit of 1%. There were almost 400 hemp cultivation licenses in 2020.

Currently, Colombia is already exporting their hemp seeds to other countries while farmers are focused on producing non-psychoactive strains, specially cultivated for CBD and bioenergy purposes.

Ecuador

In June 2020, the new legislation regarding hemp was approved and in November 2020, regulations were released from the Ministry of Agriculture for licensing in the cultivation, processing, commercialization and export of industrial hemp and medicine up to 1% THC with seven types of licences. Hemp cultivation extraction manufacturing

Jamaica

Hemp was legalized in 2015.

Mexico

Mexico is the second largest Latin American market for industrial hemp products, taking a 15% share. On June 19, 2017 President Enrique Peña Nieto signed a bill into law that officially legalized the cultivation, production, and use of medical cannabis products with less than 1% THC in Mexico.

Paraguay

In October 2019, Paraguay passed a law allowing for the cultivation of hemp up to 2 hectares per family, with estimates from Paraguayan authorities of about 25,000 families interested in the business.

In 2020, five companies were authorised to cultivate industrial hemp in Paraguay: Evonia, Alquimia, International Market, Healthy Grain and Irupe. In September 2020, Healthy Grains S.A. announced the first export of hemp food in South America to the US, exporting 500 kilograms of hulled seeds, 350 kilograms of powder and 150 kilograms of oil.