The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is delaying enforcement of a rule requiring hemp to be tested at laboratories certified by the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) due to \u201cinadequate\u201d capacity of such facilities.<\/p>\n
USDA announced the extended enforcement deadline for the hemp rule in a notice last week, explaining that the DEA laboratory testing requirement will not go into effect on January 1 as originally planned. At earliest, the industry-contested rule will go into force on December 31, 2023.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are delaying enforcement of these requirements\u2026based on input received from State and Tribal governments and third-party cannabis testing facilities who have experienced delays in completing the DEA laboratory registration process,\u201d the department said.<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause of these delays, USDA is concerned there will be inadequate hemp laboratory testing capacity for the 2023 growing season, which will hinder the growth of a domestic hemp market at this nascent stage,\u201d it said. \u201cLaboratories testing hemp must comply with all other regulatory requirements.\u201d<\/p>\n
\nUSDA AMS is delaying until Dec. 31, 2023, the enforcement of a requirement that all hemp must be tested by a @DEAHQ<\/a> registered laboratory. Laboratories testing hemp must comply with all other regulatory requirements.https:\/\/t.co\/2mSRmjxwvp<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/qk8dqInwh9<\/a><\/p>\n
\u2014 USDA Ag Mktg Service (@USDA_AMS) December 6, 2022<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n
Industry stakeholders have consistently criticized the proposed requirement that hemp could only best tested for THC content at DEA-registered facilities. They\u2019ve argued that the limited capacity has already created a bottlenecking and that laboratories can conduct the testing just as effectively even if they aren\u2019t certified by the federal drug agency.<\/p>\n
\u201cFurthermore, potential market entrants and related industries are relying on USDA to provide guidance in their preparations for the 2023 growing season, and the Administrator finds there is good cause to exercise enforcement discretion without prior opportunity for notice and comment and to make it immediately effective,\u201d USDA said<\/a>. \u201cFor the same reasons, the Administrator finds that even if this exercise of enforcement discretion were subject to the public participation provisions of the APA, there is good cause to proceed without notice and comment.\u201d<\/p>\n
Earlier this year, Rep. Chellie Pingree (D-ME) filed a bill that would make several changes to hemp rules<\/a>, including by repealing the requirement for testing a DEA-registered labs.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere are insufficient testing facilities. Right here in Maine, we don\u2019t have one at all\u2014and there\u2019s two that cover all of New England,\u201d Pingree told Marijuana Moment in a phone interview at the time, adding that there were non-DEA-certified labs that are \u201cperfectly capable of doing this.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cTo eliminate this DEA requirement would take away one more obstacle that farmers are currently facing,\u201d she said. \u201cAgain, it takes it out of this realm of, you know, \u2018this is [about] dealing drugs.\u2019 This is an agricultural crop. Let\u2019s assess it for appropriate reasons, but we don\u2019t have to make it so sinister that everything has to be done by the DEA.\u201d<\/p>\n
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack\u00a0gave final approval to a broad federal rule<\/a> laying out regulations for the hemp industry last year, despite the outstanding concerns from advocates about certain provisions. That came about two years after the cannabis crop was federally legalized under the 2018 Farm Bill.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, USDA is pursuing a survey to collect even more information about hemp production<\/a> and the economics of the industry. It sought approval from the White House to carry out the survey at the beginning of the year\u2014just days after releasing the results of a first-ever national hemp survey<\/a>.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, the agency has taken also steps to improve insurance policies for hemp businesses<\/a>, making them more flexible in response to stakeholder feedback.<\/p>\n
USDA has made several moves to align hemp insurance policies with those of other lawful crops since the plant was federally legalized, consistently seeking out input from stakeholders as the industry matures.<\/p>\n
In 2020, for example, the department made it so hemp farmers\u00a0can qualify for Multi-Peril Crop Insurance<\/a>, in addition to\u00a0several other coverage programs for which the crop is now eligible<\/a>.<\/p>\n
USDA said last year that it is\u00a0teaming up with a chemical manufacturing company<\/a>\u00a0on a two-year project that could significantly expand the hemp-based cosmetics market.<\/p>\n
As USDA implements the delayed enforcement action on DEA-registered laboratory testing, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) continues to face pressure over the lack of regulations to allow for hemp and hemp-derived products in the food and dietary supplement supply.<\/p>\n
FDA recently sent warning letters to five companies<\/a> that sell foods and beverages containing CBD\u2014the agency\u2019s latest stepped-up enforcement action that comes amid those growing calls for a regulatory pathway for lawful marketing of the non-intoxicating cannabinoid.<\/p>\n
Bipartisan lawmakers have repeatedly pressed FDA to create that marketing pathway.<\/p>\n
Reps. Morgan Griffith (R-VA) and Brett Guthrie (R-KY) sent a letter to FDA Commissioner Robert Califf in September, demanding answers over the\u00a0continued lack of regulations for CBD<\/a>\u00a0for those purposes.<\/p>\n
Griffith and other bipartisan lawmakers\u00a0sent a separate, related letter to the FDA commissioner<\/a>\u00a0in August. They expressed frustration over the \u201ccompletely insufficient response\u201d the agency provided in response to their bill calling for hemp-derived CBD to be permitted and regulated as a food additive.<\/p>\n
After the\u00a0CBD Product Safety and Standardization Act<\/a>\u00a0was filed in December 2021, the sponsors sought technical assistance from FDA to advise on key provisions. But four months after they sent the inquiry, FDA returned a \u201cone-page\u201d response that was \u201csimply a reformatting of a document provided to Congress over two years ago,\u201d the lawmakers said<\/p>\n
At a House Appropriations subcommittee hearing in May, FDA\u2019s Califf recognized that the agency\u00a0had moved slowly with rulemaking for CBD<\/a>\u00a0in the food supply, stating that the situation \u201clooks pretty much the same in terms of where we are now\u201d as compared to when he first worked on the issue in 2016.<\/p>\n
He said the FDA has taken steps to research the safety profile of cannabinoids to inform future rules, but he also punted the criticism about inaction to Congress, saying he doesn\u2019t feel that \u201cthe current authorities we have on the food side or the drug side necessarily give us what we need to have to get the right pathways forward.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re going to have to come up with something new,\u201d Califf said. \u201cI\u2019m very committed to doing that.\u201d<\/p>\n
Stakeholders have strongly encouraged FDA to live up to its authority and provide guidelines and clarity for the industry. But the agency has largely limited its regulatory enforcement authority to sending warning letters to certain CBD businesses and denying cannabinoid marketing applications.<\/p>\n
\nMcConnell Brags About Marijuana Banking Defeat In Defense Bill, Signaling He\u2019ll Fight To Stop It In Omnibus Spending Too<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n
Photo courtesy of Brendan Cleak.<\/em><\/p>\n
The post USDA Delays Enforcement Of Rule Requiring Hemp To Be Tested By DEA-Registered Labs Due To \u2018Inadequate\u2019 Capacity<\/a> appeared first on Marijuana Moment<\/a>.<\/p>\n
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