Lisbon, October 2025. The room fell silent when Dr. Vasco Bettencourt, director at INFARMED’s Licensing Unit, took the stage.
He knew what awaited him: a hall packed with growers, exporters, and pharmaceutical operators anxious for answers after months of raids, suspended licenses, and delayed export permits.
“We’re improving the system,” he said, pausing between lines as if choosing words that wouldn’t spark further frustration. “These are growing pains.”
The remark, meant as reassurance, drew a mix of murmurs and raised eyebrows. For the companies filling the seats at the Portugal Medical Cannabis Conference (PTMC), growing pains are a threat to Portugal’s golden era as Europe’s post-harvest gateway for medical cannabis.
For nearly a decade, Portugal stood at the center of Europe’s cannabis map. Flowers from Canada, Colombia, South Africa, and Thailand arrived to be tested, repackaged, decontaminated, and certified under Europe’s Good Manufacturing Practices (EU-GMP). From there, they flowed onward to Germany and the U.K., the region’s largest medical markets.
The model worked so far, but is being threatened by Germany’s recent legalization, and the aftermath of a big judicial operation that shook the industry during the past year, when the police uncovered a web of licensed producers funneling product to illicit markets in Portugal, in Africa, and beyond.
At the conference, Bettencourt said that INFARMED, the Portuguese agency responsible for regulating and controlling all medical products -including cannabis-, is rolling out new software to register and monitor cannabis imports and exports through the UN’s National Drug Control System (NDS). He added that the agency’s next steps will focus on reducing licensing delays by introducing updated qualification procedures and enhanced digital tools for regulatory oversight.
He also shared that despite the turbulence, export volumes from Portugal still surpassed 2024 levels …
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Author: Rolando García / High Times
