[S]tate officials have created proposed rules for Vermont’s fast-growing hemp industry that will go out for public comment before becoming final.
The state Agency of Agriculture, Food and Markets, which regulates the hemp industry, worked with a group of Vermont growers and processors to come up with the rules, which lay out a preliminary framework that covers the hemp cycle from grower to processor and set out what permits are required.
The rules released Thursday don’t go into detail on the certification of laboratories, another important component of the industry. Cary Giguere, the program manager at the state Agency of Agriculture who has been closely involved with the development of regulations, said the agency will work internally on those.
“Now that the rules are in process, we can work on laboratory certification procedures and processes,” he said. “These will be procedures we develop here at the agency and will not be going through a public rulemaking process for how we certify laboratories.”
The rules released Thursday cover the cultivation and use of the cannabis plant for the purpose of producing CBD, a compound that is used as an additive in food, beverages, beauty and other products. Vermont lawmakers are separately coming up with rules for growing and selling cannabis for recreational purposes. Hundreds of hemp growers have paid the required $25 fee to register with the state this year. Those fees will rise significantly, based on acreage, in the coming year.
The Vermont hemp rules would define the acceptable potency level for the hemp at all stages. Farmers will be responsible for testing the plant material while cultivating. Once it is sold, processors will have to test it as well. If it does exceed the acceptable THC levels, the hemp rules outline the steps that farmers and processors can take to stay within the law.
The Vermont definition is critical for Vermont producers, said Dan Chang, the co-founder of Kria Botanicals, a CBD laboratory in South Burlington.
“This document does a lot of good things for the growers,” Chang said of the rules, which are 12 pages long.
The proposed rules also lay out a grading system for Vermont hemp products that is not unlike the grading system now used for Vermont maple syrup. Agriculture officials are aiming to help farmers brand Vermont hemp products on the basis of high quality. The proposed rules lay out the standards for grading hemp on the basis of cannabidiol content, based on analysis from a certified laboratory.
Hemp or hemp-infused products grown or processed in Vermont must include the name and principal mailing address of the manufacturer; a list of all ingredients, a guaranteed amount of “purported cannabinoids” by serving size; a statement that the product contains THC if applicable; and the manufacturing date, expiration date, and process lot number.
“Our products are going to have truth in labeling in the wider market, which is not unique, but it’s rare,” said Chang, one of the business owners who worked with the Agency of Agriculture to come up with the proposed rules. “They always said the priority was to preserve the Vermont brand. They have taken concrete steps to do that which I think should be effective.”
There are few penalties for violating the rules. The proposal says a person who negligently violates them shall not be subject to any criminal or civil enforcement by the state or federal government. If the violation happens three times in a five-year period, the person becomes ineligible to produce hemp for five years. Almost all of the rules in the document become effective upon adoption.
The rules must be approved by the Interagency Committee on Administrative Rules, or ICAR, and be filed with the Secretary of State’s Office before the public comment period can begin. Giguere said two or three public comment meetings will be held outside of central Vermont.
The Vermont Agency of Agriculture also needs to submit its rules to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Chang said establishing the rules that govern certification for laboratories will make an important difference to the industry.
“It’s a big mystery right now,” he said. “A farmer could give samples to two different labs, but could get two different answers, because there is no standardization on how the lab is supposed to handle the flower. That’s the big blank that needs to be filled in, is the testing.”
An earlier version of this story included a section about THC levels that has been described more specifically here.