Market Alerts

Since the first week of March, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) have been issuing warning letters alleging that marketers promoted a wide variety of products with claims to prevent, treat, mitigate, diagnose or cure COVID-19. AHPA has analyzed 135 COVID-19 related warning letters issued by either FDA or FTC or by the agencies jointly between March 6, 2020, and May 11, 2020, and made available in each agency’s coronavirus information center as of May 15, 2020.

This free webinar provides practical information on how best to resume post-quarantine business operations while protecting your workforce. Learn what personal protective equipment and workspace adaptations should be implemented and how to manage ongoing business risks and liabilities. Additionally, hear from experts about how to be proactive and search for, and then correct, workplace conditions that could increase risk of COVID-19 infections.

The AHPA Foundation for Education and Research on Botanicals (AHPA ERB Foundation) is issuing a request for proposals to award grant funding to eligible applicants in order to enhance and promote knowledge and understanding of sustainable harvest of slippery elm (Ulmus rubra).  The grant supports research effects of varying rates of wild slippery elm bark harvest on tree population health and recovery across multiple harvest sites in order to inform sustainable harvest and management decisions for the species. The anticipated amount of funding available for a sustainable wild slippery elm bark harvest research project is up to $10,000 annually for up to 5 years.

This webinar provides guidance and practical tips on how to successfully market your hemp-derived products consistent with the requirements of the FDA and FTC. An FTC representative provides FTC’s perspective, summarizes recent enforcement actions, and discusses the level of substantiation respondents in those actions possessed or did not possess. Industry attorneys address legal standards, today’s ever-evolving regulatory environment, and the lawsuit risks and liabilities marketers of hemp products face.

To help the herbal products industry understand the evolving regulatory landscape for hemp and hemp-derived cannabidiol (CBD) products, AHPA has updated its free Hemp-CBD Status Report to include recent actions taken by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA).

The Oregon Department of Justice (OR DOJ) has temporarily adopted a rule declaring it “unfair and deceptive” (and thus unlawful) to represent that any product “will prevent, treat, diagnose, mitigate, or cure coronavirus, COVID-19 or a related condition, without first having competent and reliable scientific evidence upon which to base a reasonable belief in the truth of the representation.” The temporary rule is effective for six months, until October 14, 2020.

AHPA and the Council for Responsible Nutrition (CRN) filed joint comments last week to reiterate significant concerns to the Oregon Department of Justice (OR DOJ) about a Proposed Rule that would create a private right of action for opportunistic plaintiffs' lawyers motivated by the potential for recovery rather than the public interest.

AHPA has reported to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) a host of supply chain issues submitted by members and others in the herbal community. The information submitted to USDA reports on shortages or delivery disruptions of a variety of ingredients, supplies, and services. AHPA also continues to collect supply chain data to inform the industry, regulators and lawmakers.

The U.S. dietary supplement industry commends the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for taking action to protect consumers by calling out marketers who make illegal and unsubstantiated drug claims related to COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2. In February, the industry issued strong warning to companies and consumers to avoid marketing or using dietary supplements that are presented as treating, curing or preventing COVID-19.

This issue of the IADSA Newsflash covers the European Commission's draft regulation directed at botanicals containing hydroxyanthracene derivatives (HADs), Belgium recently published guidance on the analysis for four new plants, Ireland survey of cannabidiol (CBD) products that found a majority were not in compliance with various regulations, Norway's risk assessment of caffeine and more.