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When the previous tender was issued more than a year ago, 118 companies applied. It’s believed that fewer than 10 made it through to the second stage of the bid, including several large Canadian licensed producers and their German subsidiaries.

The tender stalled last fall, however, when several companies that had not made the shortlist sued the government, claiming BfArM had mishandled the procurement process. In March, a Dusseldorf court ruled in favour of one of the companies and halted the process. BfArM officially cancelled it in July.

“This is a very positive thing because it should be a much more transparent process this time, to be frank,” said OrganiGram Holdings Inc. chief executive Greg Engel, speaking after the first bid was cancelled.

The new tender, calling for 10,400 kilograms, is larger than the previous one, which had sought 6,600 kilograms. BfArM is looking for at least three suppliers, although it has not put a cap on the number of licenses it may give out.

The maximum amount a single company could produce under the contract is 1,000 kilograms a year —a small amount by Canadian standards, where large licensed producers are already growing thousands of kilograms of marijuana a month.