Israel has exported cannabis seeds to the US for the first time, the country’s Agriculture Ministry revealed in a statement.
Albeit a milestone for the domestic cannabis industry in Israel, this initial shipment is being treatment as “experimental”, with the seeds to be tested on arrival to assess their suitability for the US market.
Agriculture Minister Oded Forer expressed confidence in Israel’s potential to serve global cannabis markets with its agricultural exports, declaring that this recent exportation of seeds “could lead to the opening of additional international markets for Israeli exports and significantly advance the medical cannabis industry in Israel”.
Forer continued by stating that “increasing the range of exports and expanding it to cannabis products will enable the deepening of existing markets and penetration into new markets while riding on the growing wave of demand for cannabis products with medical-health value”.
Israel has traditionally been a pioneer within global cannabis, with a seasoned medicinal cannabis program – which provided a blueprint of what a workable medical model could look like for other countries – and world leading researchers consistently building on the legacy of the ‘Godfather of Cannabis’, Dr. Raphael Mechoulam.
That said, Israel’s ability to commercialise and advance their domestic cannabis products on the world stage has accelerated in recent months, with swathes of progressive policy changes coming to pass.
Export rules changed last August enabling Israeli companies to distribute cannabis seeds beyond the country’s borders.
Highlighting the country’s intent for Israeli exports to compete on a global scale, Naama Kaufmann-Fass, Director General of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development commented that “reality compels us to strengthen our trading ties with other countries – for example by opening agricultural attaché offices in other countries, and also in the form of the current export of cannabis seeds. We hope this shipment will bring with it further commercial successes”.
Moreover, other initiatives across 2022 have shown the government’s intent to further embrace the wider cannabis industry, as plans were put in place to remove CBD from the dangerous drugs list, in addition to increased political dialogue around decriminalizing recreational cannabis in Israel.
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