Research:2024-06-13/Journal article/international-property-rights-for-cannabis-landraces-and-terroir-products-the-case-of-moroccan-cannabis-and-ha

ResearchJournal article13 June 2024

International property rights for Cannabis landraces and terroir products. The case of Moroccan Cannabis and hashish

Pierre-Arnaud Chouvy

International Journal of Drug Policy

Argues that appellations of origin offer the best available intellectual property protection for cannabis landraces and terroir products, on grounds that what needs protecting is tradition and collective ownership rather than innovation and individual ownership. Finds UPOV plant variety protection unsuited to landraces, which cannot meet the distinctness, uniformity and stability criteria required of cultivars. Develops the case through Moroccan hashish and the kif landrace of the Rif, whose typicity derives from the region's geography and the sociotechnical itinerary of cultivation. Concludes that only hashish made traditionally from kif could qualify for an appellation, since recent imported hybrids have produced a resin of Moroccan provenance but not Moroccan origin, and notes that an appellation cannot legally control third party use of a landrace but extends protection in practice to the agroecosystem on which the terroir depends.

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DOI10.1016/j.drugpo.2024.104479

CountryMorocco

Growing regionRif Mountains

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Record created 4 May 2026maintained by landrace.wiki editorspage history

2024-06-13 2026-05-04 International property rights for Cannabis landraces and terroir products. The case of Moroccan Cannabis and hashish Journal article Conservation Pierre-Arnaud Chouvy International Journal of Drug Policy 2024 10.1016/j.drugpo.2024.104479 https://www.geopium.org/international-property-rights-for-cannabis-landraces-and-terroir-products-the-case-of-moroccan-cannabis-and-hashish/ https://doi.org/10.1016/j.drugpo.2024.104479 Argues that appellations of origin offer the best available intellectual property protection for cannabis landraces and terroir products, on grounds that what needs protecting is tradition and collective ownership rather than innovation and individual ownership. Finds UPOV plant variety protection unsuited to landraces, which cannot meet the distinctness, uniformity and stability criteria required of cultivars. Develops the case through Moroccan hashish and the kif landrace of the Rif, whose typicity derives from the region's geography and the sociotechnical itinerary of cultivation. Concludes that only hashish made traditionally from kif could qualify for an appellation, since recent imported hybrids have produced a resin of Moroccan provenance but not Moroccan origin, and notes that an appellation cannot legally control third party use of a landrace but extends protection in practice to the agroecosystem on which the terroir depends. Morocco Rif Mountains