The Barbados cannabis regulator has selected Canadian technology company GrowerIQ to manage the tracking and reporting of all marijuana production on the island nation for the next five years.
The contract was awarded via a global request for proposal process. Terms weren’t disclosed.
The latest development suggests the eastern Caribbean country is closer than ever to launching its domestic medical cannabis industry.
“(Barbados) shows there is a path forward. It shows that there is a way for jurisdictions to design a framework that can benefit everybody,” Andrew Wilson, CEO of Toronto-based GrowerIQ, told MJBizDaily in a phone interview.
GrowerIQ operates in 14 countries.
In a news release, the CEO of the Barbados Medicinal Cannabis Licensing Authority, Shanika Roberts-Odle, said the software-as-a-service (SaaS) system “will enable our licensees to view and track all their information and activities, improve cultivation management or the cannabis-based products, including its origin, testing results, handling, and chain-of-custody.”
As of this week, the Barbados regulator had issued:
- Four tier one cultivation licenses.
- Two tier two cultivation licenses.
- Two tier one processor licenses.
- One transport license.
- Three retail distribution licenses.
- Three import licenses.
- Two export licenses.
- One research and development license.
All licenses are valid for five years.
Tier one cultivation licenses cost 29,700 Barbadian dollars ($14,700) and can cover up to 1 acre.
Tier two cultivation licenses cost $123,750 Barbadian dollars. This license is for 1 to 5 acres.
Tier three and four licenses, for 5-25 acres and more than 25 acres, respectively, cost $99,000 and $79,200 Barbadian dollars.
The cannabis industry in Barbados was supposed to launch in January 2021, but licensing has been slow.
The first nine licenses were approved in 2022.
According to the law underpinning the industry, a license applicant must:
- Be at least 18.
- Be a Barbadian citizen.
- Be a permanent resident of Barbados.
- Have immigrant status in Barbados.
- Be a Caribbean Community (CARICOM) citizen.
- Be a company, partnership or cooperative society.
CARICOM is an economic union consisting of 15 states.
Information on licensing, including pricing, is available here.
The regulations governing the industry is available here.
Matt Lamers can be reached at matt.lamers@mjbizdaily.com.
