On Thursday, the USDA started accepting public comments on hemp production regulations. The process which will be carried out the whole month of December presents the citizens with an opportunity to voice their opinions regarding the interim final rule that was released on Tuesday by the Department of Agriculture.
After the legalization of hemp and its derivatives under the 2018 Farm Bill, the USDA wrote a document, which is 43-pages long, covering issues such as places for growing the crop, THC concentration requirement, licensing, and process of destroying hemp that exceeds the required level of THC. The people have to consider all these issues when submitting their comments.
The Federal Register carried a notice whereby the USDA said that people who are interested in participating in the process should address the rules governing the production of hemp and its derivatives. The USDA further wrote and said that all the comments addressing the ruling would be recorded and publicized for the public to see.
Although comments are not yet publicly available, within the next 60 days, there will be a significant number of comments due to the increased interest in hemp, especially CBD, which is extracted from the plant.
In an interview with an online publication, a former journalist who is now the proud owner of Cornbread Hemp, a Kentucky-based CBD business, said that he would participate by voicing his opinions to the USDA.
Higdon further said that the USDA proposed regulations are stringent in that they might eventually be destructive to the hemp industry. He also noted that the USDA did not elaborately interpret the restriction concerning those allowed to work in the industry.
Hemp advocates pushed the USDA for the interpretation of the provision where former drug convicts are prohibited from participating in the hemp industry. They also requested for the elaboration of the proposed rules that imposes a 10-year ban upon key business participants such as CEOs who have direct ties to the business.
Higdon and other industry stakeholders’ primary concern is the strict THC testing protocols and the lack of clear regulations for smokable hemp products.
The federal government stipulates that hemp be tested using the decarboxylated delta-9 THC instead of pre-decarboxylated delta-9, which is the better testing method for farmers, consumers and to help farmers get the highest levels of CBD possible which equates to better value for the hemp flower.
Higdon said by restricting the level of THC concentration, the CBD production is also limited, which means that farmers will not get high CBD numbers.
While it is not yet certain if the USDA will act on the comments, observers think that the USDA will let the existing rules apply and then modify them in due course over the years.
That possibility of a lengthy wait before the rules are made more industry-friendly could be the reason why analysts believe that hemp companies like Dama Financial and LiveWire Ergogenics Inc. (OTC: LVVV) are apprehensive to learn the next steps of the federal regulator once the comments period ends.
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