California-based Ikänik Farms, Inc. (CSE: IKNK.U) has teamed up with one of the world’s leading testing and verification companies to create a new international certification program to ensure quality and safety for pharmaceutical grade cannabis products.
On Monday, Ikänik said its Colombian subsidiary Pideka worked with Switzerland-based Société Générale de Surveillance S.A. to establish a new global medical cannabis certificate.
The firm has been targeting international cannabis and hemp markets since 2019 when it bought Pideka, a large cultivator based in Colombia.
The Good Production Transformation & Commercialization Practices Cannabis Pharma certification program ensures that the industry follows a global benchmark standard of quality for the production cannabis, according to a statement.
Ikänik says their team at Pideka spent countless hours with SGS’s Colombian subsidiary to create the SGS certified seal of self-regulation, sustainability and top-notch standardization processes for the entire industry to provide cannabis consumers with confidence in the products they buy.
The GPTCP program includes quality requirements set by various standards programs such as European Union Good Manufacturing Practices, ISO 9001 and from the Colombia National Food and Drug Surveillance Institute.
“Completing this collaborative certificate with SGS Colombia is a milestone achievement and a reflection of the company’s dedication to best-in-class quality for the cannabis industry,” Ikänik CEO Brian Baca said in the statement.
When Canada became the first G7 country to legalize recreational weed in 2018, the country created production rules based on European and United States Pharmacopoeia standards medical and non-medical cannabis intended for ingestion or inhalation.
Specifically, those standards have created limits for heavy metals and contaminants for all cannabis products sold in the country.
Ikänik focused on raising quality standards for low-cost Colombian-grown cannabis
Ikänik Farms is focused on raising international medical cannabis production standards at its Pideka operation in Colombia. Press photo
Ikänik says establishing a new international standard for quality will not only raise the bar for the global weed industry, but will also help the company gain certifications such as E.U. GMP for its Colombian operations.
Last month, Pideka became the first operator to establish a legal route to export medical cannabis from Colombia to Mexico.
Ikänik plans to lead Colombia’s cannabis export sector by increasing production at Pideka, which owns the only licensed indoor cannabis growing facility and solvent extraction lab in the country.
With ideal equatorial climate and inexpensive, skilled labour force, the company says Colombia is poised to disrupt global cannabis markets with high-quality medical cannabis grown at lower costs than in the U.S. and Canada.
The firm worked for six months with authorities to export the first batch of THC oil from its facility in Tocancipá, Colombia to one of their pharmaceutical clients in Mexico.
Over the next three years, Ikänik expects to export up to US$100 million in medical cannabis oil with a targeted sale price of US$45,000 per litre.
The company recently inked a three-year supply deal with distribution partner Yura Group to sell its hemp-based CBD topical products in eight new Latin American countries.
Read more: Ikänik Farms inks 3-year Latin American CBD deal
Ikänik shares fell 1.3 per cent Monday to $1.47 in afternoon trading on the Canadian Securities Exchange.
Mugglehead has reached out to Ikänik and Pikeda for more information on when and how the certification will be rolled out.
Top image via Ikänik
jared@mugglehead.com
