Near the end of a subcommittee hearing on hemp Thursday, Rep. Jim Baird, R-Minn., ranking member of the House Subcommittee on Biotechnology, Horticulture and Agricultural Research, said: “We’ve heard a lot great recommendations for the 2023 farm. bill here, and one thing I’d like to add is that the FDA hasn’t had any kind of regulatory framework for hemp-derived CBD, so I would encourage us to include that in the our discussions on the 2023 farm bill.”
Rep. Stacey Plaskett, the Democratic delegate from the Virgin Islands who chairs the subcommittee, responded: “Thank you, and I wholeheartedly agree with that assessment.”
The exchange came at the end of a hearing in which stakeholders presented a wide variety of proposals to change policy at the U.S. Department of Agriculture and Food and Drug Administration, and Rep. Chellie Pingree , D-Maine, introduced his proposed Hemp Advancement Act. .
The USA Hemp Roundtable noted that Eric Wang, CEO of Kentucky-based Ecofibre, and Kentucky Agriculture Commissioner Ryan Quarles urged committee members to include language in the bill agricultural bill of 2023 that would regulate CBD and other hemp-derived compounds.
Plaskett noted that except for a period during World War II, the hemp industry had been outlawed until 2014, when the farm bill removed longstanding federal restrictions on its cultivation and production.
Under the 2018 farm bill, the USDA established programs to help hemp growers, processors and researchers and in 2021 issued its final decision on the regulation of hemp production.
Baird told Plaskett, “I think it’s a missed opportunity that we’re not going to hear from the federal agencies that are charged with implementing hemp-related provisions today. Madam President, I’m hopeful that we can find an opportunity to hear as much the USDA and the FDA.”
Rep. Glenn “GT” Thompson, R-Pa., the ranking member of the full committee, also expressed disappointment that neither USDA nor FDA officials would testify.
Baird also said he felt it was “notable that this is the first hearing the House Agriculture Committee has held on hemp,” and Thompson agreed.
Pingree noted that “while the US hemp industry grew rapidly following the legalization of commercial hemp production, the long-term economic viability of the industry remains uncertain, as hemp is a very small crop in terms of production that is still being developed.”
“Competition with alternative crops for acreage, global markets and competitiveness, and the ability to manage production, regulatory and market challenges will continue to impact the overall development of the emerging US hemp industry,” he said. .
“Hemp can be used for a variety of products, including rope, textiles and paper,” Pingree noted.
However, Pingree added, regulatory uncertainty surrounding hemp production, hemp processing and the sale of CBD products has created significant challenges for the Maine industry.
“While more than 2,000 acres of hemp were planted in Maine in 2019, only 111 farmers were licensed to grow hemp in 2020, representing just 211 acres,” he said.
During the hearing, Pingree said he is particularly upset about the Administration’s lab testing requirement for drug enforcement and the ban on people with drug-related felony convictions getting a hemp license.
Echoing the views of some of the stakeholders who testified, Pingree said the Hemp Advancement Act of 2022:
▪ “Increase the permissible THC [Tetrahydrocannabinol] threshold for in-process hemp and hemp extract to make the rules more workable for growers and processors while ensuring that the final hemp products sold to consumers are not intoxicating.
▪ “Remove the requirement that hemp testing be done at DEA-registered laboratories, which is a particular challenge in Maine, where there are no such facilities.
▪ “End the 10-year ban on people with drug-related felony convictions getting a hemp license, which disproportionately excludes communities of color from participating in this emerging market.”