Hemp decision deferred again

The Australia and New Zealand Ministerial Forum on Food Regulation met in Hobart, Tasmania, today but said work on “information gaps” around selling hemp as food was yet to be completed.

In a communiqué, the ministers said the Food Regulation Standing Committee (FRSC) working group was addressing matters of roadside drug testing, cannabidiol levels, legal and treaty issues.

“The group is also addressing concerns that the marketing of hemp in food may send a confused message to consumers about the acceptability and safety of cannabis,” the ministers said.

The forum has asked officials to progress this work as quickly as possible and has agreed to consider the report on the project outcomes in the first quarter of 2016.

Tasmanian Industrial Hemp Association president Phil Reader said the decision was not a surprise.

“That was half expected unfortunately, I knew they have put a heap of money in to do this research into drug samples and other areas, which is totally irrelevant anyway,” Mr Reader said.

The information the working group was seeking was readily available from overseas experts, he said.

About $200,000 was being spent to carry out the work, which was not expected to be finished until the end of the year.

“It seems to me the money could be far better spent on helping the industry get off the ground,” he said.

“I am disappointed.”

He said he was hopeful a letter from the Joint Commonwealth and Tasmanian Economic Council - co-chaired by Prime Minister Tony Abbott - to Assistant Health Minister Fiona Nash, would speed things up.

The letter “had fired a shot across the bows” of the assistant Minister, calling for action to free up hemp production in Tasmania, he said.

The Forum comprises all Australian and New Zealand ministers responsible for food regulation, and is chaired by the Assistant Health Minister.

Tasmanian Independent MP Andrew Wilkie this week urged the ministers to stop stalling and allow the production of industrial hemp for human consumption in Australia.

Mr Wilkie said it was time to allow the production of industrial hemp for human consumption in Australia.

"It is a political decision not to have approved it by now,’’ Mr Wilkie said.

"There’s not a single good reason for holding off approving it for human consumption.

"This is a lucrative and safe crop for human consumption, not something you can get high on, and legal in just about every other country.

"It’s a healthy oil, it's a safe plant to grow and it will be very, very lucrative for farmers, particularly here in Tasmania.

"Instead of educating the community, the government is pandering to naivety, some weird ideological bent and scaremongering by the police.

"To claim that more time is needed to consider the matter is ludicrous. The human consumption of industrial hemp products has been investigated time and time again and is lawful in just about every other developed country."

But the Tasmanian government has put a positive spin on the outcome of the meeting.

Health Minister Michael Ferguson said he had secured agreement, from the forum, that work on the issue to be accelerated.

“While a vote was disappointingly defeated earlier this year, we fought hard for the issue to remain on the forum agenda,” Mr Ferguson said.

“The forum agreed with our push for the completion of this work to be brought forward to the first quarter of next year, so we can consider lifting the prohibition much sooner than July 2016, as was previously proposed.”

Tas Primary Industries Minister Jeremy Rockliff said that lifting the current prohibition would be a sensible reduction of unnecessary red tape.

“Allowing the use of low-THC hemp in food products has huge potential to open new markets for our agriculture industry, strengthening the economy and creating jobs,” he said.