David Seymour believes New Zealand could become a “high-value powerhouse” for exporting medicinal cannabis, similar to the success of the country’s wine sector.

A Ministry of Health paper released under the Official Information Act showed we exported more than a tonne of cannabis flower in 2024.

The document, obtained by Newstalk ZB, showed that was more than double the 485.6 kgs exported in 2023.

That figure was 184.3 kg in 2022 and 49 kg in 2021.

The Ministry of Health defines a medicinal cannabis product as either dried cannabis flower, or a pharmaceutical dosage containing ingredients extracted from the cannabis plant.

New Zealand’s biggest markets for medicinal cannabis exports were Australia, Portugal, and Uruguay.

A Ministry of Health briefing to Associate Minister of Health and Minister for Regulation David Seymour outlined how year-on-year export growth was “supported by recent changes that removed regulatory barriers for exporters”.

He said he is looking into further changes - both for the export market and domestically.

Vendors are required to hold a medicinal cannabis licence, and must also apply to Medsafe for a controlled drug export licence for each shipment. Officials noted there may be an option to consider a broader or enduring export licence across multiple consignments.

The average wait time between a completed application and an export licence being issued by Medsafe was 10 days in the 2024/25 financial year. Medsafe is continuing to minimise delays through changes to online applications; it has also automated the invoice for application fees.

In an interview, Seymour noted people have said the industry could be a new, high-value export, similar to the New Zealand wine industry.

He said medicinal cannabis is “some people’s drug of choice, and they’re prepared to pay a lot of money for it.”

“New Zealand could become, just as we are with wine, a high-value powerhouse,” Seymour added.

He said the Government was looking to give exporters more permanent licences to reduce red tape and bureaucracy, and saw the rise in exports as a positive for the New Zealand economy.

“We need to get money into the country, and not everybody likes this stuff, but there’s a market for it,” Seymour remarked.

“In a million little ways, the Ministry for Regulation is cutting red tape. Not everybody wants a puff of the green, but for those who do, there’s a market. If they’re not harming anyone else, we should let them.”

In a statement, Medsafe said it was committed to striking the right balance between maintaining the requirements of the Misuse of Drugs Act regulations, and allowing businesses to operate pragmatically.

The agency said work in the space was ongoing, and it would be engaging with the sector to “better understand the issues and consider what other changes could improve the process”.

Medsafe noted it had already started making progress, saying processing export applications for medicinal cannabis are “prioritised wherever feasible”.

It is also finalising extra guidance aimed at making it easier and quicker for companies to submit information required of them.

Seymour further applauded the progress on speeding up the exports: “As a result of improvements within Medsafe export licenses are being processed 56% faster than in 2023, and we’re looking into further improvements.”

The Ministry of Health noted the changes in application processing times.

“While the effect of the improvements will take time to flow through, timeframes are already improving. We are now processing applications faster on average than we were last year,” Medsafe said.

Azaria Howell is a multimedia reporter working from Parliament’s press gallery. She joined NZME in 2022 and became a Newstalk ZB political reporter in late 2024, with a keen interest in public service agency reform and government spending.