Watch: Leonid McKay Exclusive – Malta’s Cannabis Association License Fees Slashed Following Grower Feedback
License fees for cannabis associations will be slashed from a minimum of €8,000 to €1,000 for at least two years, the head of Malta’s Cannabis Authority has confirmed.
In an exclusive interview with Lovin Malta, Leonid McKay said the Authority for the Responsible Use of Cannabis (ARUC) has taken heed of growers’ concerns that the €8,000 annual fee could be financially prohibitive.
“The authority understood that non-profit organisations would have initial cash flow problems, lack prior knowledge on their members’ consumption patterns, and have problems of longstanding financial commitments while the vetting process is ongoing.”
“NPOs are already facing financial burdens and we must help them, particularly the small ones, in the first two years. I personally spoke to [Parliamentary Secretary for Reforms] Rebecca Buttigieg about it and we agreed that the license fee will go down from a minimum €8,000 to a minimum €1,000 until we have full visibility of the situation, which will take around two years.”
License fees will be payable in arrears, and not in advance, which could also come as a relief for cannabis associations with initial cash flow problems.
While the registration fee will remain €1,000 for now, McKay confirmed that the authority plans to slash it to €500 for small associations with a maximum of 50 members.
“We are speaking about non-profit models here and we must stress this point because it’s the only way to regulate the sector,” McKay insisted. “In fact, other jurisdictions have already started speaking to Malta about this model, which isn’t commercialisation. We want to do our utmost to help NPOs start running.”
The application process for cannabis associations is set to open on 28th February, and aspiring NPOs will have to abide by several rules.
Among the rules, an association’s signage cannot advertise cannabis in anyway, operate from a premise at least 250m away from schools and youth centres, grow their cannabis in an area not visible to the public, and limit their membership to 500 people.
Leonid McKay’s full interview with Lovin Malta will be published in the coming days.
Will you be applying to open or join a cannabis club in Malta this year?
READ NEXT: It Begins February 28th: Everything You Need To Know About Opening A Cannabis Association In Malta
