CannTrust Holdings (TSX: TRST) (NYSE: CTST) announced this afternoon that it has received a Notice of License Suspension from Health Canada. The suspension is in relation to the illegal activities conducted at their Pelham, Ontario facility. Specifically, the firm is no longer allowed to produce cannabis, other than cultivating and harvesting, nor is it allowed to sell its cannabis.
While the terms sound rather murky, essentially what it means is that Canntrust is allowed to finish the process of cultivating and harvesting, as well as provide ancillary services for, the current crops under production. The firm will not be allowed to produce any additional cannabis once the currently growing plants are completed.
Effective immediately, Canntrust has also lost its ability to sell cannabis, process it, or conduct research on it as a result of the Health Canada suspension.
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However, despite the notice of suspension issued by Health Canada, it seems there may be an opportunity for Canntrust to remove the suspension from its licenses. Health Canada indicated that a number of measures could be undertaken by Canntrust to potentially remove suspension, which include:
- Measures to ensure that cannabis will be produced and distributed only as authorized, including measures to control the movement of cannabis in and out of CannTrust’s site;
- Measures to recover cannabis that was not authorized by CannTrust’s licence;
- Measures to improve key personnel’s knowledge of, and compliance with the provisions of the Act and the Regulations that apply to CannTrust; and,
- Measures for improving the manner in which records are kept, including a plan to improve the inventory tracking, and any interim measures to ensure that information provided to Health Canada can be reconciled.
The suspension, as indicated by Health Canada, may be lifted if Canntrust can demonstrate that the suspension was unfounded or if the reasons for the suspension no longer exist.
Canntrust Holdings is currently trading at $1.45 on the New York Stock Exchange.
Information for this briefing was found via Sedar and Canntrust Holdings. The author has no securities or affiliations related to the discussed organizations. Not a recommendation to buy or sell. Always do additional research and consult a professional before purchasing a security. The author holds no licenses.
