NZ Hemp Industries Association Inc

Public Newsletter for December Quarter 2017 

In this issue:

• Hemp seed foods in Australia from November, NZ must wait until July 2018

• New Government – 100 Days of the new MMP colation – Meeting with MPI and MOH

• Dr Kim Pickering recogonised for her work at Waikato University in the field of composite materials and fiber technology

Hemp seed foods in Australia from November 2017, NZ has to wait until July 2018

The big news for the Australian iHemp industry in November was the opening up of the hemp food industry which has seen an increase in supply and demand for healthy hemp seed super foods.

in April 2017 the Food Minsters approved the variation to the food code and wanted it to happen within 6 months.  The Federal Government helped the 9 jurisdictions in Australia to achieve this.

However in New Zealand we have been told we have to wait until around July 2018 to achieve the same thing.  As we have had a change in government,  MPI needs more time to make the small changes required to the Misuse of Drugs Act (MODA), the hemp regulations, and the Medicines and Food Acts.

Please note “hemp seed foods” are “hemp products” as they come from low THC industrial hemp, grown under licence.  Minute traces of THC may be detected but are minuscule and no one is going to fail a drug test from eating hemp seed foods, nor are they going to get high.

       Hemp seed on the maturing flower

New Government – 100 Days of the new MMP coalition
We are seeking meetings with the Ministers from: Ministry of Primary Industries (MPI) and Ministry of Health (MOH) 

We need to ensure the intent of the new government is carried down to the officials tasked with enabling the industry and interpreting the regulations.

At the heart of all our problems is the lack of a definition of what they are trying to control, which is clearly the narcotic drug THC.  By defining and focusing on controlling high THC marijuana cannabis there would be no need to treat low THC industrial hemp as a drug crop.

The 2006 iHemp regulations give us a great definition of industrial hemp being, low THC cannabis (less than 0.35%).  However any amount of THC, triggers the “Controlled Drug” attitude.   Even the minuscule amounts of THC in iHemp, often less than 0.1% in NZ crops, means we are continually caught by MODA  (Misuse of Drugs Act 1975)

This has to change; the officials, the public and the market must be made aware of the difference between iHemp cannabis and marijuana cannabis.

In 2025 this will be obvious, but it has to start now!
Low THC industrial hemp must be accepted as just another arable crop capable of producing hemp products, free of the controls required when dealing with narcotic drugs

Male and female plants in a iHemp crop

Professor Kim Pickering of Waikato University’s School of Engineering has been awarded a Royal Society medal for her work on creating new materials from natural products or waste.

Prof Kim is also the head of the NZHIA R&D Committee and has been working on hemp fibers in New Zealand for many years – Listen to her interview with RNZ
http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/ninetonoon/audio/2018619284/creating-sustainable-manufacturing-materials

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