The U.S. Division of Agriculture has once more prolonged a deadline for federally permitted hemp to be examined at Drug Enforcement Administration-licensed labs.
Now, hemp produced underneath the USDA’s Home Hemp Manufacturing Program can have merchandise examined at labs that aren’t licensed by the DEA by way of the tip of 2025, based on a Thursday information launch.
The USDA delayed the requirement final 12 months, pushing a deliberate Dec. 31, 2023, deadline to the tip of 2024.
Testing laboratories apparently are having issue assembly DEA necessities or receiving certification from the company, based on suggestions the USDA has obtained from state and tribal governments in addition to labs themselves.
The USDA famous in its launch there have been “setbacks” and “delays” for labs trying to finish “the DEA laboratory registration course of.”
“Due to these setbacks within the completion of the DEA course of, USDA is anxious there will probably be insufficient permitted hemp laboratory testing capability for the 2025 rising season,” the company mentioned.
“Laboratories testing hemp should adjust to all different regulatory necessities.”
In line with the USDA’s most up-to-date Nationwide Hemp Report, hemp manufacturing is down nationwide from a current peak.
Indoor hemp manufacturing plummeted from 15.5 million sq. toes underneath cultivation in 2021 to three.2 million sq. toes in 2023.
Planters reported 27,680 acres of out of doors hemp “for all utilizations,” a 2% drop from 2022.
