Self-inflicted wounds

The second main issue was the Portuguese authorities’ Operation Erva Daninha (Weed), a significant enforcement motion which concerned greater than 70 search warrants throughout Portugal and Europe, resulting in a number of arrests and the seizure of over 7 tonnes of hashish and €400,000 in money

In Might 2025, native police forces launched the operation, concentrating on prison organisations allegedly utilizing licensed pharmaceutical and export corporations to falsify documentation and transfer product into the black market, exposing regulatory gaps in Portugal’s quickly increasing medical hashish sector.

Whereas regulators and compliant operators welcomed the motion as vital to guard the trade’s credibility, the aftermath has strained the respectable provide chain. Export allow approvals, beforehand processed inside a month, are actually taking as much as 12 weeks, slowing commerce and irritating worldwide companions.

Trade executives, together with SOMAÍ Prescription drugs CEO Michael Sassano, warned that these delays may undermine Portugal’s standing as Europe’s main processing and export hub except Infarmed streamlines oversight and restores market confidence.

“That blew up in  (Portugal’s Hashish regulator) Infarmed’s face,” Cordova asserted.

On the annual PTMC convention in Lisbon, Dr Vasco Bettencourt, Infarmed’s Director of Licensing, sought to reassure delegates that the incident was an remoted one and never reflective of Portugal’s wider hashish trade.

Whereas Cordova stated he provides Dr Battencourt ‘a number of credit score for displaying up an proudly owning it’, the remainder of the market now ‘paying the value too’.

“Export permits have gone from 30 days to 70-plus days, which is a big delay.  For those who’re a GACP grower in Canada and also you ship your product to Portugal for GMP processing, it’s now sitting for months earlier than transferring to Germany or the UK. The cash is getting held up, individuals are pissed off, they usually’re making enterprise choices to go elsewhere.”

Knock-on affect

The affect of stress on the gateway to Europe, is now having a ripple impact all through the area, not simply in Portugal.

One key situation, as we reported not too long ago, is the looming oversupply disaster in Germany. An issue that’s being exacerbated by this Portuguese bottleneck.

“There’s a sell-by date on these merchandise. A grower in Alberta harvests, then it sits, it ships, it clears customs, it goes by means of 70-day export queues, by the point it reaches Germany, it’s 4 to 5 months outdated.

“Pharmacies anticipate at the least a yr of assured shelf life beneath GMP, however many wholesalers don’t need product that’s already a number of months aged. This creates a bottleneck and contributes to oversupply in Germany. There’s a flood of older product, pricing stress, and rising frustration within the provide chain.”

The torrent of hashish from the Americas won’t be contained by Portugal’s bottleneck although. Like every flood assembly an obstruction, it would carve new routes of least resistance throughout Europe.

In response to Cordova, those that aren’t ready for their very own GMP licences are turning to the Czech Republic, and will quickly shift to North Macedonia.

Nevertheless, the important thing shift within the world provide chain, he states, is vertical integration… “Develop your individual, course of your individual, export straight.”