Reading Time: 3 minutes Sao Paulo | Reuters — International cannabis companies are showing interest in Brazil, both its large consumer market for medicinal products and a proposal that could legalize planting of the crop. Major producers such as Colombia’s Clever Leaves and Canada’s Canopy Growth are developing and selling medicinal cannabis products to a Brazilian consumer segment estimated […] Read more

Cannabis firms catch whiff of opportunity in Brazil
Canadian producers among those now supplying Brazilian market

Canopy Growth to close Saskatchewan pot plant
Ontario company stepping out of other international plays
Reading Time: 2 minutes A major indoor cannabis grow site at Yorkton, Sask. is the latest casualty as pot producer/retailer Canopy Growth adjusts its worldwide footprint. Smiths Falls, Ont.-based Canopy Growth, whose cannabis brands include Tweed, Tokyo Smoke, Van der Pop and Spectrum Therapeutics, announced Thursday it will shut down its Tweed Grasslands production facility at Yorkton to “further […] Read more

Colombia cleared of foot-and-mouth
Country now aims to double meat exports
Reading Time: < 1 minute Bogota | Reuters — Colombia will look to double its meat exports now it has regained its status as a country free of foot-and-mouth disease, President Ivan Duque said on Thursday. Foot-and-mouth is a highly contagious viral disease found in animals and is one of the most serious to affect livestock, including cattle, sheep and […] Read more

Colombian president defends use of glyphosate on coca crops
Reading Time: 2 minutes Bogota | Reuters — A judicial ban on aerial spraying of glyphosate herbicide to eliminate coca crops should be modified, Colombia’s President Ivan Duque said on Thursday, because expansion of the crop since the ban threatens peace efforts. The Andean country suspended aerial fumigation of coca, the raw ingredient in cocaine, with the Monsanto herbicide […] Read more

Chinese demand boosting Canadian wheat, barley exports
Reading Time: 2 minutes CNS Canada — China is making major moves to import more Canadian wheat and barley this year. Data released by the Canadian Grain Commission show China more than tripled its wheat imports, taking in 979,100 tonnes as of May, up from 295,300 tonnes in the same period of 2016-17 and an increase of 231.6 per […] Read more

Pacific trade bloc adds ‘associate’ members, including Canada
Reading Time: 2 minutes Cali, Colombia | Reuters –– Four new countries will be admitted to the Pacific Alliance as associate members, the trade group said on Thursday, as it seeks to expand commerce with the Asia-Pacific region while the U.S. pushes for protectionist measures. The alliance, which comprises Colombia, Chile, Mexico and Peru, will on Friday admit Singapore, […] Read more

Pacific trade pact countries seek ‘progressive’ way forward
Reading Time: 2 minutes Vina Del Mar, Chile | Reuters — The remaining members of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) are seeking a way forward on the trade pact, they said on Wednesday, as some emphasized the need for deals to address concerns about workers’ rights and other issues. The TPP, which originally covered some 40 per cent of global […] Read more

Colombia, rebels plan joint drug crop eradication
Reading Time: 2 minutes Havana | Reuters –– Colombia’s government and leftist FARC rebels agreed on Friday to a pilot project to replace illicit crops, mainly coca, as part of negotiations aimed at ending Latin America’s last and longest guerilla war, which is fueled in part by drug profits. Colombia is one of the world’s biggest producers of cocaine, […] Read more

Colombia calls off aerial coca spraying
Reading Time: 2 minutes Bogota | Reuters –– Colombia will suspend aerial fumigation of illegal coca plants in light of a number of studies linking the herbicide involved to cancer, a move that marks the end of a decades-long strategy in the country’s fight against drug trafficking. Spraying coca leaves, which are used to make cocaine, has been a […] Read more

Colombia clears paper trail for more Canadian wheat
Reading Time: 2 minutes “Continuous engagement” has led to a lighter regulatory load on Canadian wheat bound for Colombia, already Canada’s seventh-biggest wheat export market. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency and trade group Cereals Canada on Tuesday announced Colombia has eased phytosanitary import rules for Canadian wheat, “effectively putting Canada on a level playing field with other exporting countries.” Colombia’s […] Read more