How licensed producers of cannabis grown for medical and research purposes may find better markets abroad with the right EU GMP-certified partner.
It’s a multinational problem looking for a global solution.
Some countries produce more cannabis than their citizens can use, even those few, like Canada, that have legalized it for recreational consumption as well as for medical and research purposes. Other fast-growing markets, like Germany and Israel, sometimes struggle to augment their limited domestic medical cannabis grow with high-quality product from foreign producers. As medical access in countries like France, Italy and Poland expands, so will demand.
In addition, in the EU and elsewhere, the issue for local distributors and other buyers is finding suppliers large and sophisticated enough to have achieved the required quality standard of Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) certification. (GMP certification attests to the quality of the processes used to produce medical products derived from plant materials, such as dried cannabis flower or JMCC’s innovative, oral NanoSprays.)
Opening Up for Outsourcing
Before acquiring our new EU GMP-certified facility in Malta, JMCC had already determined that more of this big, bright space could be deployed to increase our production capacity to meet the needs of growing markets in Europe and beyond.
In fact, as soon as we announced the acquisition, we started to field enquiries from other cannabis producers about our ability to support their export ambitions. (Malta was among the first countries to provide third-party EU GMP processing assistance to producers in other jurisdictions where cannabis cultivation for medical purposes is legal and well regulated.) We investigated and determined we could indeed help companies with GACP-compliant grow and which met other criteria set by regulators.
Now rechristened as JMCC Life Sciences Europe Limited, our 32,000-square-foot production centre in Malta is being outfitted with new equipment for final processing, including final-stage drying, trimming, and sterilization with our preferred cold plasma treatment. We’re adding extraction and production capabilities for distillates and isolates, and related testing, packaging and labelling processes.
We’re also installing another of our packaging partner’s canning lines, as we know many European customers in particular are as keen to reduce plastics use as we are. These food-grade cans are 100% recyclable reclaimed steel with a polycarbonate, child-resistant lids. Lined to protect terpenes and prevent leaching, our cans are a much more sustainable packaging choice and will also best protect our naturally grown, premium medical cannabis flower throughout its journey to patients.
At the same time, our Global Logistics team has been working closely with our Malta team to ensure they are also equipped to handle expanded warehousing and distribution operations there. This means that JMCC, as a Group, can now deliver GACP/GMP raw product from Jamaica to our Maltese operations and then provide EU GMP-finished product globally, with all of the logistics handled by our very own team.
And yes, we will also be able to assist licensed producers in Canada and elsewhere to prepare their GACP-compliant medical cannabis products to meet import requirements for several markets in Europe, Australia and beyond that accept EU GMP as equivalent to their own quality standards.
It’s important to note, however, that not every foreign producer will meet Malta’s exacting requirements for importation of raw material for advanced processing of dried flower, extraction/distillation and the like. JMCC has put together comprehensive qualification and needs-analysis processes to determine whether and how we can best help producers in Canada and other countries to access legal medical markets that offer additional sales opportunities and margins than their home jurisdictions.
Contact us at info@jmccgroup.com to begin the conversation.
