MOH and interpreting the regulations
The NZHIA Executive have began a series of meetings with Medicines Control senior officials to ensure the enabling regulations are working as the working group anticipated they would.
The inter-agency working group was convened when the government lifted the moratorium on talking about hemp cannabis in 2000. This followed the publication of a number of papers on the subject. And the NZHIA booklet –5 Minute Guide to Industrial Hemp in 1998 a copy of which was given to all MP’s.
The working group involved all the agencies, MOH, MAF, Customs, Police, Justice, Te Puni Kokiri and the NZHIA were there representing industry.
All the potential end uses of hemp were discussed and as “Industrial Hemp” by definition does not contain any noticeable amounts of THC, it was not considered a problem and was to be treated as an arable crop grown under licence issued by the MOH
Our regulations were then drafted to accommodate this diversity of end use and were purposefully general in the concept that only “industrial hemp” grown under licence could be used to produce “hemp products” for sale.
Our regulations are fit for purpose and are world class, and as Dr Jessamine acknowledged at the iHemp Summit, it is a matter of interpretation.
We look forward to working with the MOH we encourage them to respect the intent of the iHemp Regulations and enable a New Zealand iHemp industry and let us realise the potentially massive and wide ranging economic opportunity for New Zealand, especially in the regions where it is needed.
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