‘Industrial hemp: steps for exploiting the economic and social potentials’. Minutes for APPG meeting held on 08.03.23

Minutes

 Present

Crispin Blunt MP

Ronnie Cowan MP

Cherilyn Mackrory MP

Marco Fugazza – UNCTAD

Elizabeth Osgood - Defra

Paul Tossell – FSA

Dan Houseago – Jersey Government

Tarsilo Onuluk (Office of Crispin Blunt MP)

Nick Morland – Tenacious Labs

Andy Cutbill – Tenacious Labs

Alex Markland – Tenacious Labs

Renata Legierska – Tenacious Labs

Sian Phillips – CTA

Marika Graham-Woods – CTA

Lorenza Romanese – EIHA

Tony Reeves – EIHA

Jade Proudman – EIHA

Jamie Bartley – CIC

Mike Morgan-Giles – CIC

Rebekah Shaman – BHA

Terry O’Regan – Brains

Barinder Bhullar – Brains

Nick Joyce – GRWN Group

Nick Mackaness – Hemspan

Patrick Gillett – Hempen

Anuj Desai – The Cannabis Conversation

Marcus Morely-Jones – Ecoversity

Ed Koyuncu – Plantific

Charlie Sampson – Phytome Life Sciences

Simon Eaton – Phytome Life Sciences

Josh Nusenbaum – Seff Fibre

On Zoom

Dr Mike Barnes – CIC

Dr James Cooper – FSA

Claire O’Sullivan  

Andrew Jones

Paul Atherton

Kitty Wilson Brown

Jon Hartshorn

Thoby Kennet

Welcome

APPG Co-Chair Crispin Blunt MP starts proceedings by welcoming everyone to the meeting. He clarifies decisions made by the officers since the last meeting, regarding APPG management. These were:

·      Tenacious Labs would continue as secretariat until the end of the year;

·      The process of selecting a new secretariat would be given enough time for the respective body or organisation to get across the business before they took their responsibilities; and 

·      It was better to have a secretariat that rotated so that the APPG could not be accused of being in the hands of corporate interest.

Crispin Blunt acknowledges the work that Tenacious Labs has done to date, and their financial contribution, and in particular thanks Nick Morland and Andy Cutbill for their hard work.

Crispin introduces the next topic on the agenda, and invites Marco Fugazza, senior research economist at UNCTAD, to speak on his recent report.

Presentation: ‘Industrial hemp: steps for exploiting the economic and social potential’ – a talk detailing findings from the recent United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) report entitled ‘Industrial hemp: insights from the special issue of the commodity-at-a-glance series’.

Marco thanks Crispin Blunt and begins.

In his report he discusses the botanical and regulatory definitions of industrial hemp and the general uses of the plant. He highlights the economic, agricultural, environmental, and social benefits of hemp, as well as how countries could exploit these benefits.

Marco covers the following points in his talk:

·      Industrial hemp is a controversial crop that is often mistakenly associated with intoxicants. However, industrial hemp has been used for millennia for multiple purposes.

·      There is a unique species in the Cannabis genus: the Cannabis sativa Linnaeus. Three chemotypes are commonly identified based on the two main cannabinoids, THC and CBD.

·      Chemotype III is characterized by high CBD/THC ratios and is the type that industrial hemp belongs to. A clarification of the legal status of industrial hemp with respect to that of intoxicant cannabis substances such as THC would be the first step to be taken by governments willing to unlock the crop's potentials.

·      Worldwide hemp cultivation covers less than 0.02% of areas harvested for primary crops, but the industrial hemp sector offers enormous income potential, as multiple properties of hemp plants can help maximize the use of land and can thus contribute to increasing farmers' income and create new market opportunities for both growers and processors.

·      Hemp-based biobased products can be found in numerous markets, such as agriculture, construction, textiles, and automotive industries. Hemp could also be used as a potential renewable source of energy.

·      Hemp is also an environmentally friendly crop that can be grown without herbicides, fungicides, and pesticides, and it can improve soil health and prevent soil erosion. Hemp can also contribute to carbon sequestration and could be used to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

·      Hemp can be a socially beneficial crop, as it can provide income and employment opportunities for farmers and processors, especially in rural areas. However, it is important to ensure that hemp farming and processing do not lead to labour exploitation.

·      The report recommended that countries clarify their regulations on industrial hemp and promote research on the crop's economic, agricultural, environmental, and social potentials.

·      The report also recommended that countries invest in hemp processing infrastructure and that they support the development of standards and certification schemes for hemp-based products.

·      Finally, the report advised countries to engage in international discussions on hemp policy and to promote the sustainable development of the global hemp industry.

Crispin thanks Marco for his valuable talk, and EIHA and MD, Lorenza Romanese, for paying Marco’s travel expenses.

Crispin says that it is now the job of the various jurisdictions to take Marco’s UNCTAD report and use its findings to make the changes highlighted.

Crispin asks the first question: which jurisdiction will be chosen to look at as the best example of where reform has been exceptionally delivered.

Marco considers ministries of agricultural as industrial hemp’s natural jurisdiction. He notes there are some health considerations, and that all jurisdictions should be considered. But principally agriculture.

Crispin mentions that the UK Ministry of Agriculture or Defra should be a part of the wider conversation in the UK re drugs policy, within which hemp still sits. Currently Defra is not.

Patrick Gillet from Hempen brings up licencing, stating that it has got more difficult in the UK since last year. Guidelines are not clear, not being judged fairly, and the turning down of licences is now the default.

Ronnie Cowan MP states there is a lack of knowledge, a fear of cannabis (even mistakenly of industrial hemp), and no urgency. The Home Office, he says, see all cannabis plants as a drug and a bad thing, and does not understand or want to understand the difference of (THC-free) industrial hemp.

Crispin asks members of the APPG to put forward three case studies from UK businesses that have struggled with, or have been be turned down for, a licence in order that they can be submitted to the Home Office. He acknowledges that there is no longer a ‘light touch’ enforcement being practised.

Ronnie Cowan MP agrees and asks for Scottish case studies to be submitted.

Nick Morland of secretariat Tenacious Labs brings up the difficulties caused to legitimate businesses by the UK Proceeds of Crime Act (POCA), which is snaring businesses dealing with industrial hemp (even though POCA was never created for that purpose). Bank accounts are being closed down, he says. POCA is a UN initiative, says Nick, and he asks Marco if the UN would give an official steer on PCOA, to help fuel conversation regarding its amendment. There also needs to be a definition of what is and what isn’t a drug, says Nick. Will the UN say that industrial hemp is not a drug, he asks.

Marco says to his knowledge the UN does not have the prerogative to do so.

Josh Nusenbaum of Seff Fibre – a UK hemp textiles business - states that UK businesses are being held back by lack of supply of UK hemp as farmers are finding it difficult to produce the crop due to licencing.

Jamie Bartley from the CIC agrees and demands for licencing to be amended.

Lorenza Romanese from EIHA asks for regulators to be better educated re industrial hemp.

Nick Morland says that Tenacious Labs and the Secretariat Advisory (SAB) have been pushing for the changes discussed. The secretariat and SAB would like such changes to be promised in soon-to-be-written party election manifestos, where it should also be recognised that industrial hemp should no longer need a licence to be grown.

Nick also mentions his concern about the recent Deloitte report, commissioned by the FSA, that has been written behind closed doors without any input from the industry. There was audible agreement from around the room.

Crispin concludes the meeting by agreeing that at all parties should be competing positively over hemp and CBD in the next election.

The meeting is terminated at 12:03