Export licences for Medicinal Cannabis - 2023 (FOI)

​​Request

Please advise how many export licences for cannabis were issued by the office of the Chief Pharmacist in 2023, broken down by month?

Response

26 export licences were issued for medicinal cannabis in 2023.

In consideration of the small number of licences issued in some months and the publication of monthly export volumes, Article 33 of the Freedom of Information (Jersey) Law (commercial interests) has been applied and a breakdown of licences issued per month is not provided.

Article applied

Article 33 - Commercial interests

Information is qualified exempt information if –

(a) it constitutes a trade secret; or

(b) its disclosure would, or would be likely to, prejudice the commercial interests of a person (including the scheduled public authority holding the information).

Public Interest Test

Article 33 is a qualified exemption and as such, a prejudice test has been conducted, as required by law. 

When responding to requests of this nature, the public interest must be balanced with the impact that disclosing this information would, or would be likely to, have upon the Scheduled Public Authority (SPA) and / or third parties. 

It has been concluded that disclosing details of the licences issued each month alongside monthly export volumes could lead to identification of commercially sensitive information of the parties involved. When considering the application of this exemption, it has been determined that whilst it is in the public interest to disclose information, this is outweighed by the necessity to limit any impact on the commercial interests of the third parties, and as such, Article 33 has been applied.​