CANADA – The Competition Bureau Canada has made recommendations to ease restrictions on cannabis packaging and adjust limits on how much of pot’s psychoactive component can be in edible products.
In a submission to Health Canada and a panel reviewing cannabis legislation, the Competition Bureau positioned changing tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) limits and giving pot companies more freedoms around packaging and marketing as a way to boost competition.
“The bureau believes that stronger competition in the cannabis industry would help foster innovation and benefit consumers by providing them with increased choice and quality,” it wrote in its submission.
“Importantly, these benefits would serve to displace illicit market activity further and bolster the legal cannabis industry.”
Under the Cannabis Act and the Cannabis Regulations, all cannabis products require plain packaging and labeling with restrictions on logos, colors, and branding as well as specific display formats including font type and size.
According to the Bureau, these prohibitions make it challenging to educate consumers, differentiate businesses and products, and develop and maintain brand loyalty, thus affecting the ability of cannabis producers to compete in the industry.
The Competition Bureau Canada has recommended Health Canada review and consider easing restrictions and help create a more level playing field for legal cannabis producers.
It also noted that less restrictive rules would facilitate non-price aspects of competition while empowering consumers to make informed purchasing decisions.
Competition Bureau Canada also called for a review of the cannabis licensing process and other related regulatory compliance costs and adjust delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) limits on edible cannabis products.
A 2022 survey from Health Canada found nearly half of the 10,048 respondents who used cannabis in the past year purchased the substance exclusively from legal sources, an increase from 43 percent in 2021.
Some believe the true share of the illicit market is higher because of the stigma around revealing cannabis use.
Pot producers and shops have long felt THC and packaging changes would chisel away at the market share illicit sellers have and help them reduce the hefty number of layoffs, facility closers and writedowns they’ve taken in recent years to keep their businesses afloat.
Their calls for change have grown in recent months after Ottawa launched a review last year of the Cannabis Act, which set purchase and possession limits and established safety requirements for growing, selling and transporting the substance.
When legalization legislation came into effect in 2018, it prevented cannabis products from being packaged in a way that is enticing to youths and limited THC in edibles to 10 mg per package. Illicit products often exceed the limit.
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