The Federal Commission for the Protection against Sanitary Risks
(Cofepris), revoked guidelines for health control of cannabis and its
derivatives published on October 30, 2018. Cofepris considered that
these substances are currently classified as narcotics or psychotropics
by the Ministry of Health
(SSA) and should be regulated in accordance to that classification. If
the guidelines are not written within the current legal framework, they
contradict the General Health Law.
The guidelines provided details about how to obtain permits for legal
importation, production and commercialization of cannabis based products
for medical and research purposes in Mexico.
Additionally, the Subsecretarariat of Industry and Commerce of the Ministry of Economy supported the previous statements concluding that the guidelines issued during Enrique Peña Nieto’s administration also contravene regulations regarding non-tariff barriers to foreign trade in Foreign Trade Law and its Regulations because they did not have the approval of the Commission of Foreign Trade.
These statements contradict the former commissioner, Sanchez y Tépoz, who stressed that these types of products did not have psychotropic or psychoactive effects and did not exceed 1% THC, thus approved the guidelines late 2018. On November 2018, Cofepris inaugurated the cannabis based product market with the approval of 38 products, including food, supplements and cosmetics.
Cofepris endorsed products from four Mexican companies, one Spanish and two from the United States, as part of the first introduction of cannabis based products and their derivatives into the Mexican market. A total of 57 permits were granted to different companies in 2017 allowing them to produce a variety of cannabis based products such as: CBD Science, Endo Natura, CBD Life, Afinat México, Farmacias Magistrales y Aceites Orgánicos de América.
Raul Elizalde, president of HempMeds México, one of the companies that obtained permits to produce cannabis based products, agreed that the guidelines were insufficient and that use of any product containing THC should be revised further.
The Ministry of Health stated that it will carry out actions that seek to align the guidelines with Mexican legal framework that they currently contravene. The document, Guidelines for sanitary control of cannabis and derivatives/Lineamientos en materia de control sanitario de cannabis y sus derivados, consists of 50 articles that detail the how products that contain less than 1%THC should be produced and commercialized in Mexico.
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