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The post Portuguese stakeholders confront an old problem: Ignorance was originally published on HempToday. Subscribe to our newsletter, check out our events and follow us on facebook, instagram and twitter.

More than 40 Portuguese hemp stakeholders have signed an open letter to the government requesting resumption of hemp licensing after permitting was halted at the beginning of 2019.

The industry pushback comes after Portugal’s Ministry of Agriculture issued a clarification in January making all hemp related authorizations subject to review by INFARMED, the Portuguese Health Regulator which has authority over pharmaceutical products and controlled substances. The changes, in effect, mean hemp farmers undergo a licensing regimen as strict as that under which medical cannabis licenses are obtained in Portugal.

Licensing on hold

As a result of the changes, hemp growing permits previously provided by the government’s Food and Veterinary General Directorate (DGAV), are currently not available. In the last two years, farmers could get licenses by providing DGAV with their Land Parcel Identification and estimated dates for seeding and harvesting.

“When I first started, we didn’t need to deal with INFARMED to grow hemp. We just needed to buy certified seeds below 0,2% THC and get the verification from DGAV,” said hemp farmer Miguel Negrão, a founder at Cannacasa, a hemp industry association.

The post Hong Kong conglomerate backs US-based C-Beyond Health was originally published on HempToday. Subscribe to our newsletter, check out our events and follow us on facebook, instagram and twitter.

In a signal that Asian investors are beginning to look over U.S. hemp companies, Colorado CBD maker C-Beyond Health said it has received an investment from Hong Kong-based multi-national Triple Ten Ltd, and is poised to move into Thailand as the regulatory environment clears.

While C-Beyond Health did not reveal the funding figure, CEO Scott Reese called the investment “significant.”

“We will reach more healthcare professionals in Asia, open the market for innovative cannabinoid-based product lines, and build new relationships with the highest levels of government in these markets,” Reese told HempToday of the company’s plans.

Probing markets

The funds from the Hong Kong investors will be used over the next year to keep up with the enormous demand for cannabis-based solutions, support ongoing product innovation, and generally probe new markets domestically and abroad, Reese said.

Weekly Deal Watch: Cannabis capital raises outpace record 2018 levels is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs

The post Euro stakeholders upbeat on reversing CBD-in-food rule changes was originally published on HempToday. Subscribe to our newsletter, check out our events and follow us on facebook, instagram and twitter.

European hemp stakeholders came away upbeat from a meeting with European Commission officials yesterday as they seek to reverse recent food rule changes that could upend the hemp food business across the continent.

“We launched a good dialogue for sound negotiations with the Commission and Member States today,” Lorenza Romanese, Managing Director of the European Industrial Hemp Association (EIHA) told HempToday after the meeting with a working group of the EC’s Standing Committee on Plants, Animals, Food and Feed (PAFF). “We have something to work on together.”

Language in rules affecting CBD, updated Jan. 20 in the EC’s Novel Food Catalogue, could put a crushing burden on European hemp food producers because novel foods undergo a more strict and costly compliance regime than other foods. The situation threatens to disrupt the entire – and fast-growing – hemp food business throughout EU Member State markets, Romanese warned the committee at the outset of an EIHA presentation on the situation.

Handicapping EU players

The changes also would handicap EU enterprises on the global stage at the very moment when leading hemp nations such as Canada, the United States, China and non-EU member Switzerland are rapidly advancing, Romanese told the PAFF session.

The post U.S firm says it has bought Dutch maker of extraction technology was originally published on HempToday. Subscribe to our newsletter, check out our events and follow us on facebook, instagram and twitter.

Colorado, USA-based Folium Biosciences said it has bought FeyeCon, a designer of large scale supercritical CO2 extraction technology based in Weesp, Holland.

Folium said the move gives the company “an additional level of vertical integration,” and strengthens its ability to control the production process from seed to sale.

The companies did not announce the financial details of the deal.

“We have acquired vested pharmaceutical R&D licenses as well as Active Ingredient licenses, and a comprehensive IP portfolio that includes over 150 patents,” Folium CEO Kashif Shan said of the acquisition, which he noted will “speed along our pharmaceutical division and Rx joint ventures in the active ingredient and new product development space.”

The post U.S. farming officials set listening session on federal rules was originally published on HempToday. Subscribe to our newsletter, check out our events and follow us on facebook, instagram and twitter.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) will host a hemp specific listening session for industry stakeholders on Wednesday, March 13 to hear comments as it works to finalize federal hemp regulations. USDA has indicated it intends to finalize the rules in time for the 2020 growing season, according to industry lobbyists Vote Hemp.

Vote Hemp said rules need to be refined covering such things as crop insurance, testing and how data will be shared among states, Native American tribes and USDA.

State plans must wait

The group noted that USDA will not review state or tribal plans until federal regulations are finalized. Until those rules are clear, states can continue to regulate hemp production under the 2014 Farm Bill research and pilot programs provision, Vote Hemp noted.

“(Agriculture Secretary Sonny) Perdue’s decision is disappointing but his commitment to completing the process in time for the 2020 growing season is positive news,” Vote Hemp said in a release.

The post International vendors join ‘HempBoutique’ at NoCo Expo in USA was originally published on HempToday. Subscribe to our newsletter, check out our events and follow us on facebook, instagram and twitter.

Vendors and producers of hemp-based products from nine countries are signed up so far for HempBoutique, an international pop-up showroom that will again be part of this year’s NoCo Hemp Expo in Denver, Colorado. The Expo, in its sixth year, runs March 29-30 at the Crown Plaza, Denver International Airport.

Products ranging from hemp fashions to CBD will be in the showroom, which aims to give small, innovative non-US companies an affordable way to get their goods into the biggest industrial hemp exhibition in the world. Advertising in a special NoCo edition of HempToday magazine is also included in the vendor package.

Join 13 other exhibitors

A total of 13 companies from Belgium, Croatia, Czech Republic, France, Nepal, Poland, Slovakia, S. Africa and the UK are already signed up to exhibit. Reservations to display in the HempBoutique close this Friday, March 15. Interested vendors may get further information here.

HempToday is joining for the third year with NoCo Hemp Expo to organize the HempBoutique, part of a Global Hemp Village international section on the floor of the expo.

The post For long-term value from the hemp plant, look to the fiber was originally published on HempToday. Subscribe to our newsletter, check out our events and follow us on facebook, instagram and twitter.

By Robert Ziner, CIHC, Canada

Over the long run hemp fiber will become the most relevant part of the hemp plant, and the most valuable of its outputs.

Just as iron ore is a primary product, and steel is a secondary product, seed and CBD outputs are strictly primary – while in hemp only the fiber is secondary.

As primary commodities, hemp seed and CBD outputs react swiftly to the reality of the world’s quick changing market dynamics, driven by inevitable and often unpredictable pricing fluctuations.

M&A activity this year is outpacing the number of deals closed this time last year. Cultivators and retailers continue to be top takeover targets with nearly 30 deals closed this year.

Weekly Deal Watch: M&A activity continues to ramp up among US cannabis cultivators, retailers is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs

The post Enthusiasm high as Irish Hemp Co-op looks to busy year was originally published on HempToday. Subscribe to our newsletter, check out our events and follow us on facebook, instagram and twitter.

The Irish Hemp Cooperative has named two new board members as it plans a busy slate of activities throughout the rest of the year aimed at expanding membership in the organization.

The election to the board of Laura Foley, a partner in CBD company Canabaoil and Jack O’Connor of agri-tech firm BHSL came during a recent meeting of about 80 stakeholders who heard board member Kate Carmody give an update on the activities carried out by the board during the previous 12 months, and other presentations.

2018 was busy year

The board in 2018 met the licensing body the Health Products Regulatory Authority, visited processing facilities and businesses in other countries, obtained innovation vouchers, and applied for national and European funding.

Attendees also heard board member Ed Hainbidge give a detailed presentation on how to apply for a license to cultivate hemp in Ireland. With many of the individuals in the room keen to grow hemp for the first time, this provided valuable insight into the process involved.

The post U.S. self regulator gives its stamp of approval to 13 hemp firms was originally published on HempToday. Subscribe to our newsletter, check out our events and follow us on facebook, instagram and twitter.

American self-regulator U.S. Hemp Authority has given its stamp of approval to 13 companies the group says have met its quality and safety standards.

“As the market for hemp-derived products undergoes rapid growth, it is critically important for us to signal to the world that we intend to act responsibly,” said Marielle Weintraub, U.S. Hemp Authority president. “Quality assurance and safety must come first, and that’s why we set off on this journey.”

The U.S. Hemp Authority was set in motion last year by the U.S. Hemp Roundtable, a coalition of more than 50 hemp companies that lobby for hemp at the federal level.

The certification is designed specifically to educate hemp farmers and producers about Food and Drug Administration Current Good Manufacturing Practices (cGMP) and Good Agricultural Practices (GAP).

The post Updated EU rules on ‘novel foods’ get it wrong on CBD was originally published on HempToday. Subscribe to our newsletter, check out our events and follow us on facebook, instagram and twitter.

A recent update to the European Union’s Novel Food Catalogue is mistaken in its consideration of CBD, cannabis veteran and consultant Richard Rose writes in a detailed report issued late last week..

“The recent EU Novel Food Catalogue update was incorrect. Hemp flower products indeed have demonstrated long use, including Cannabidiol (CBD),” Rose wrote in a heavily researched and footnoted paper that argues CBD is not a novel food.

What is novel food?

Novel food is defined as food that was not consumed to a considerable degree by citizens of the EU prior to 1997, when the first regulation on novel food came into force. Novel food can be newly developed, innovative food, food produced using new technologies and production processes, and food traditionally eaten outside the EU. The regulation requires such foods be safe and be properly labeled so as not to mislead consumers, among other requirements. The upshot for food producers is a more burdensome marketplace as novel foods undergo stringent and costly authorization requirements.

Hemp flower products such as hempseed and hempseed oil (extract) are authorized novel foods under EU rules, exempt from registration as new novel foods due to demonstrated consumption in member states prior to May 1997, Rose points out.

Canopy Growth has lined up celebrity lifestyle guru Martha Stewart to advise the Canadian cannabis company in developing a new line of product offerings, including hemp-derived CBD products. Stewart said their first collaboration will offer products for pets. “As soon as you hear the name Martha, you know exactly who we’re talking about,” Canopy Growth […]

Canopy enlists celebrity Martha Stewart as CBD ‘adviser’ is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs

The post Facebook ban pushes Finnish hemp processor to the edge was originally published on HempToday. Subscribe to our newsletter, check out our events and follow us on facebook, instagram and twitter.

A company which spent almost €275,000 on Facebook advertising over three years has seen its sales plummet after the online media giant started rejecting their ads. Finland-based Hemprefine Oy spent five years developing its hemp processing line at a huge cost, founder Mikko Neuvo told HempToday.

“We invested everything we had and more to build the processing line and to provide Finnish customers with hemp products,” Neuvo said.

Because Facebook turned out to be the most efficient tool for targeting specific audiences, the company decided to invest a lot of time and money for building a hemp community to support its business model. “We had to aggressively advertise hemp products in Finland because we had to create the market from scratch,” Neuvo said.

Retailers don’t need ads

He suggests Hemprefine Oy ads helped create a demand which has seen Finnish retail shops import from larger producers, which has further undermined his company’s business.

Weekly Deal Watch: Cannabis brands and hemp firms become takeover targets is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs

The post Tasmanian hemp farmers see rapid growth in coming years was originally published on HempToday. Subscribe to our newsletter, check out our events and follow us on facebook, instagram and twitter.

Tasmanian hemp fields could rapidly expand to 8,000 hectares (about 20,000 acres) over the next few years, stakeholders say, as long-awaited changes to Australian legislation governing the use of hemp seed are now in place.

This year around 1,600 ha of hemp is being grown in Tasmania, with a farm gate value of AU $4.5 million.

Seed in demand

Demand for hemp seed is skyrocketing and with an ideal climate, access to water and experienced growers, the state is well placed to take advantage of the booming market, Tasmanian Hemp Association (THA) president Tim Schmidt said.

“The companies operating here have got orders we need to fill, otherwise there’s a risk they could be filled by imported seed,” Schmidt said. “There’s an opportunity here for hemp to become a really important crop. The key thing we’re looking for is growers to give is a go and then keep growing it year after year.”

More than one year after Peru legalized medical cannabis, the South American country published a regulatory decree providing clarity about how the program will work, including possible cultivation and manufacture of high-THC cannabis by private companies. Details on the breadth of commercial activity that will be allowed remain vague, however. The decree, published Saturday, estimates that […]

Peru lays groundwork for commercial medical cannabis production, sales is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs

The post Government ‘rigidity’ is barrier in Serbia, but fields expand was originally published on HempToday. Subscribe to our newsletter, check out our events and follow us on facebook, instagram and twitter.

While the Serbian government is supporting hemp farmers with subsidies for things like fertilizer and fuel, a lack of flexibility on other key considerations is holding up development, said Igor Bogdanovic, a leading Serbian hemp figure and President at Konoopa, a fiber processor and technology developer.

“The government itself is very rigid in regulating CBD and completely deaf to the tremendous evidence of the medicinal use of both CBD and THC,” Bogdanovic told HempToday.

Nonetheless, Bogdanovic said a few Canadian companies have imported or are about to import CO2 extraction technology, marking a shift in focus for hemp in Serbia.

GW Pharmaceuticals, the British maker of epileptic seizure-control medication Epidiolex, said it was not aware of any supply issues related to the cannabis-derived drug after a tweet from a patient’s father complained he could not source the medicine. GW’s stock was down more than 3% on Wednesday on the Nasdaq after the tweet from San […]

GW Pharma denies supply issues with marijuana-based drug Epidiolex after stock falls is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs

The post Tilray scoops up Manitoba Harvest, plans line of CBD products was originally published on HempToday. Subscribe to our newsletter, check out our events and follow us on facebook, instagram and twitter.

Canadian cannabis giant Tilray Inc. has has agreed to acquire hemp food maker Manitoba Harvest for $277.5 million in cash and stock, Tilray announced. The deal could reach more than $419 million based on incentives.

Nanaimo, British Columbia-based Tilray said it looks to leverage Manitoba Harvest’s production capacity and its distribution system throughout 16,000 U.S. retail outlets that include major chains Costco, Wal-Mart, and Whole Foods.

Manitoba Harvest, founded in 1998, produces hemp nuts, oil and granola. Tilray said it plans to expand into CBD-infused products such as tinctures, sprays and soft-gels where those products are permissible in the USA.

The post Tilray scoops up Manitoba Harvest, plans line of CBD products was originally published on HempToday. Subscribe to our newsletter, check out our events and follow us on facebook, instagram and twitter.