After crippling delays, Portuguese agency finally approves 20 growers

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Portugal’s Directorate-General for Food and Veterinary (DGAV) authorized 20 of 60 requests submitted to grow industrial hemp this year, and is still reviewing an additional 10 applications, the Ministry of Agriculture said this week. 

 Cannareporter.eu first reported that the authorizations had been granted.

Stakeholders had feared the authorizations for growing and processing hemp could be further set back as Teresa Maria Pais Nogueira Coelho, the official responsible for issuing permits at the DGAV, recently left her post.

With fiber and grain farmers already having missed the planting window in Portugal due to the lagging authorization system, it’s questionable that even outdoor CBD crops can be successfully cultivated this year. Outdoor flower crops can be planted as late as mid-July in Portugal.


Key position filled

The agriculture ministry meanwhile confirmed that Conceição Canas Serra Carvalho has replaced Coelho as the head of the Variety and Seeds Division, which issues hemp authorizations. Coelho had been in the position since 2016.

Carvalho previously was Senior Technician in the Plant Health and Certification Division at the Directorate of Agriculture, Food and Rural Development Services.

The Ministry said Coelho has moved to another agency in the Ministry of Agriculture.


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