This report from MMJ Daily, published on 3 September 2026
Image courtesty DRA who facilitated Morocco’s first ever prescription of Beldia medical cannabis to a SAHPRA registered medical cannabis patient in Greenside, Johannesburg in 2025.
Cannaflex Morocco announced on 2 September 2026 that medical cannabis sourced from legal Moroccan Beldia has been released and dispensed in licensed Swiss pharmacies, following two years of alignment, conformity and quality development.
The Swiss partner is Pharmaserv AG, a pharmaceutical company based in Stansstad. Cannaflex says the chain of custody runs from GACP cultivation in Morocco under ANRAC guidelines through to Swiss GMP release, with chromatographic identity testing, verified bio-burden clearance, and screening confirming the absence of pesticide residues alongside controls on heavy metals and aflatoxins.
A piece of Moroccan tradition
Beldia is the indigenous landrace of the Rif, the plant behind Morocco’s traditional kif production, and it carries the genetic variability that comes with centuries of open pollination in a single region.
Rudy Lachhab, Co-founder of Cannaflex Morocco, explains: “We manage the natural variance of a landrace by sticking to strict GACP protocols from the moment the seed goes into the ground right through harvest to storage. But hitting pharmacopoeial consistency happens after the harvest. It comes down to our processing. We use highly precise curing, milling, and homogenization techniques. By blending and rigorously testing the milled biomass, we can guarantee a uniform cannabinoid profile and total microbiological safety across the entire batch before it ever leaves our labs or gets exported.”
The material reaching Swiss patients is a standardized flower powder that needs to meet both ANRAC and GMP requirements. “Getting the two systems to ‘speak the same language’ was definitely the most time-consuming part. Morocco’s legal framework under ANRAC is robust, but it’s relatively new. On the flip side, Switzerland has deeply rooted, very strict GMP requirements for botanical inputs.
“Bridging that gap, translating our Moroccan GACP documentation, traceability records, and lab analytics into a format that seamlessly checked all the Swiss quality assurance boxes, took a lot of meticulous auditing and close teamwork with our partners at Pharmaserv AG,” says Lachhab.
Growers licensed under Law 13-21 are not restricted to the indigenous variety. ANRAC has authorized Beldia and has separately certified 7.6 million imported seeds for use in the legal scheme.
“Beldia has a completely unique chemotype that you simply cannot replicate with modern imported hybrids. Because it has adapted to the microclimate of the Moroccan Rif over centuries, it has developed a specific cannabinoid ratio and terpene profile that creates a very distinct ‘entourage effect.’ For Swiss and European patients, this means having a totally new therapeutic option that is known for its balanced, highly functional effects. Plus, it carries the authenticity of Morocco’s botanical heritage, which is something we are incredibly proud to bring into modern clinical settings,” says Lachhab.
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