In short – the court says get on with it..
Exame media reports
The Superior Court of Justice (STJ) rejected this Wednesday, the 12th, a request from the National Health Surveillance Agency (Anvisa) to extend the deadline for regulating the cultivation of industrial hemp . Last year, the STJ established a six-month deadline, but Anvisa and the Union tried to increase it to one year. The countdown ends in May.
In November, the First Section of the STJ authorized companies to receive health authorization to plant, cultivate and sell industrial hemp — a variation of cannabis sativa without psychotropic effects. This authorization is valid only for exclusively medicinal and pharmaceutical industrial purposes.
Anvisa and the Union filed a motion for clarification, a type of appeal used to clarify points in the ruling, questioning the deadline and the start of the count — asking for it to begin with the publication of the result, and not with the trial. The objection, however, was unanimously denied by the First Section.
Rapporteur highlights the “broad debate” in the STJ
The rapporteur, Minister Regina Helena Costa , pointed out that the six-month period was defined after a “broad debate”, and that at the time a three-month duration was even suggested.
“I understand that the appealed decision was clear and sufficient regarding the establishment of a deadline for the health authority and the Union to comply with the obligation to regulate the matter. I also note that the establishment of such a period was the result of a broad debate here in the Section, with the six-month deadline being unanimously defined,” he stated.
Deadline and complexity of the process
For Costa, the established time was considered the “most appropriate”, already taking into account the “complexity” of the measure.
“The Section ended up understanding, by majority, that six months would be the most appropriate period. The presumed procedural complexity to be implemented by the administration for the required regulation was effectively considered”, stated the rapporteur.
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