Silver Spring, MD, May 19, 2021 – Today, Senators Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley (D-OR) and Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) introduced bipartisan legislation that would protect public health by providing legal clarity in the hemp and hemp-derived cannabidiol (CBD) product marketplace. The Hemp Access and Consumer Safety Act of 2021 would amend the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FD&CA) by establishing exceptions to certain statutory restrictions that have prevented the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) from setting clear regulatory frameworks for hemp and hemp-derived CBD that would assure consumer access. Importantly, the legislation would subject foods and dietary supplements containing these ingredients to all of the protections afforded by FDA’s current food and dietary supplement regulatory frameworks.
A growing number of Americans view hemp and hemp-derived CBD as useful for improving health and wellbeing, driving high consumer demand and a proliferation of hemp and CBD-containing products on the marketplace. While the 2018 Farm Bill changed the law to allow hemp farming, there has remained regulatory uncertainty about the inclusion of hemp and hemp-derived CBD in foods and dietary supplements.
The legislation introduced today would allow hemp, hemp-derived CBD, and other ingredients derived from hemp to be legally marketed in foods and dietary supplements, and it would thus require such products to comply with all of the statutes and regulations that apply to other foods and dietary supplements. Establishment of these legal pathways will also provide much needed certainty to hemp farmers.
“Americans deserve to have assurances that the hemp and CBD products they include in their food and dietary supplement choices are properly regulated,” stated Michael McGuffin, president of the American Herbal Products Association. “AHPA supports this legislation since it would clarify the lawful pathways for bringing such products to market.”
The bill would also specifically authorize FDA to establish labeling and packaging requirements for dietary supplements and foods that contain hemp, hemp-derived cannabidiol, or a substance containing any other ingredient derived from hemp.
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About AHPA
Founded in 1982, the American Herbal Products Association (AHPA) is comprised of more than 350 member companies, consisting primarily of domestic and foreign companies doing business as growers, processors, manufacturers and marketers of herbs and herbal products as foods, dietary supplements, cosmetics, and non-prescription drugs, and also including companies that provide expert services to the herbal trade. AHPA’s Mission is to promote the responsible and sustainable commerce of herbal products to ensure that consumers have informed access to a wide variety of safe herbal goods. AHPA’s Vision is for high quality herbal products to be readily accessible to and broadly used by consumers. More at ahpa.org.