Clever Leaves Receives Quota to Cultivate and Export High-THC Medical Cannabis from Colombia
Clever Leaves authorized to cultivate and extract high-THC cannabis dry flower for exportation to federally legal medical markets
BOGOTA, Colombia, Dec. 12, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Clever Leaves, a leading multi-national operator (MNO) and licensed producer of pharmaceutical-grade medical cannabis and hemp extracts, announced that its Colombian operations have received a quota to cultivate, extract, and commercialize through export high-THC medical cannabis. The grant comes as a result of commercial quotas allocated to Clever Leaves by the Colombian Technical Quotas Group ("TQG"), which permit the company to cultivate high-THC cannabis plants and to manufacture, export and commercialize the corresponding amount of cannabis derived products and extracts. This grant is believed to be the largest quota of its kind issued to a Colombian licensed producer.
“Clever Leaves has quickly established itself as a pioneering medical cannabis and hemp producer in Colombia, and this authorization solidifies our position as a leading Latin American exporter to federally-legal markets around the world. Up until this quota, Colombian production has largely emphasized hemp, and this quota marks the formal entry of Clever Leaves and Colombia into the burgeoning international medical cannabis industry,” said Kyle Detwiler, CEO of Clever Leaves.
“Our Colombian team has worked diligently to meet the strictly regulated, rigorous process of receiving a commercial quota from the TQG, and we expect to steadily increase our quota in the coming years. Being one of the largest exporters of high-THC Cannabis will help us in our efforts to meet the global demand for pharmaceutical-grade cannabis for patients worldwide,” said Andrés Fajardo, President of Clever Leaves.
With this approval, Clever Leaves is granted access to provide psychoactive products to their key global customers positioning the company to become one of the largest suppliers of medical cannabis globally. This authorization for commercial production and sales is in addition to previous quotas granted to Clever Leaves for scientific and research purposes.
About Clever Leaves
Northern Swan Holdings, Inc. and Eagle Canada Holdings, Inc. d/b/a Clever Leaves recently announced a definitive agreement to fully integrate their respective operations. Clever Leaves, the integrated company, is a multi-national cannabis company with a mission to operate in compliance with federal and state laws, and with an emphasis on ecologically sustainable, large-scale cultivation and processing as the cornerstone of building out distribution and brands. Clever Leaves is a leading vertically integrated producer of medical cannabis and hemp extracts and is currently cultivating over 1.8 million square feet of greenhouses under Good Agricultural and Collection Practices (GACP) in Colombia. Clever Leaves Colombia obtained its Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) certification from INVIMA, Colombia’s food and drug regulatory agency, after inspection of its top-of-the-line extraction facility and is being evaluated for certification under European Good Manufacturing Practices (EU GMP). Clever Leaves’ first extraction facility is currently capable of extracting 24,000 kilograms of dried flower, with expansion underway to increase expected extraction capacity to 324,000 kilograms of dried flower per year by mid-2020. Clever Leaves is also expanding its cultivation and extraction capabilities to Portugal, where it currently owns over 9 million square feet of property with over 100,000 square feet of greenhouses and anticipates its first harvests in 2020. Clever Leaves is one of the world’s largest hemp and medical cannabis producers, with a global footprint encompassing brands, extraction facilities, cultivation operations and other investments across Canada, Colombia, Germany, Portugal, the United Kingdom and the United States, and more than 700 employees worldwide.
Press contacts:
McKenna Miller
KCSA Strategic Communications
+1347-487-6197
mmiller@kcsa.com
Diana Sigüenza
Strategic Communication Director
Diana.siguenza@cleverleaves.com
Released December 12, 2019
