Arlington, VA

The National Association of State Departments of Agriculture (NASDA) submitted comments yesterday to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) on the Establishment of a Domestic Hemp Production Program.

“State agriculture officials appreciate the complexity of the challenges USDA faces in developing regulations in support of our nascent hemp industry,” said NASDA CEO Dr. Barb Glenn. “Nevertheless, we continue to emphasize the need for flexibility so that States can facilitate, rather than interfere with the production and processing of hemp across all states. Without some flexibility, NASDA fears the Rule could exacerbate competitive differences between these states and hamper the growth of the U.S. industry.”

NASDA made the following three overall requests of USDA as they work to finalize the rules of how hemp will be produced:

  • NASDA urges USDA to ensure that states have the flexibility to work with their state law enforcement, instead of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), to establish a protocol for disposal of non-compliant materials as each state deems most appropriate. Additionally, NASDA urges USDA to allow for post-harvest retests to allow for remediation option prior to entering interstate commerce.
  • NASDA urges USDA to set the negligence threshold for THC at 1% of dry matter and allow for states to develop mitigation plans.
  • NASDA urges USDA to drop the requirement to use a DEA registered laboratory.

NASDA’s organizational hemp policy can be found here. NASDA adopted policy supporting the legalization and production of hemp for the first time in 2002, and since, NASDA has voted in favor of numerous policy items that support the growth of the industry and development of uniform standards for the regulation of this crop. Learn more about our work on hemp at www.nasda.org/hemp.

NASDA is a nonpartisan, nonprofit association which representants the elected and appointed commissioners, secretaries and directors of the departments of agriculture in all fifty states and four U.S. territories. NASDA grows and enhances American agriculture through policy, partnerships and public engagement.

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