FDA’s policy isn’t the only unanswered question about the US CBD market.

The USDA in October published an interim final rule on hemp production and in December extended the comment period for the IFR until 29 January – docket AMS-SC-19-0042. Questions and criticism from stakeholders are widespread, most frequently about testing and sampling standards and about a requirement for all non-compliant ingredients to be destroyed.

Oregon Sens. Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley, both Democrats, were among the sponsors of the legislation included in the 2018 farm bill to legalize and have asked the USDA to make changes to the IFR. In a letter to USDA Secretary Sonny Perdue following the IFR’s publication, Wyden and Merkley recommended the agency:

follow Oregon’s model and extend the timeline for testing and provide a reasonable timeframe for post-testing harvest;
remove a requirement that testing labs must be Drug Enforcement Administration-registered;follow Oregon’s pre-harvest sampling protocol that a “sample shall be obtained from flowering tops when flowering tops are present, and shall be approximately 8 inches in length” rather than requiring a sample from the flower or bud located at the top one-third of a plant;
set a negligence threshold greater than 1% for THC content, if one must be set, as the IFR’s current threshold at 0.5% is arbitrary and too low.

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