Dear EIHA members,
Hemp seeds are under pressure in Europe – and we need to organize and finance some activities as soon as possible.
The situation
1) The EU Commission and EFSA are are developing THC limits for feed – and meat and milk. Perhaps with impacts on other hemp products.
2) The German BFR THC limits (the only ones in Europe), are a little bit to strict for some hemp food products. A revision would be nice.
3) For hulled Hemp seed imports from non-EU countries, some restrictions on import for food and feed are in place since this summer (to avoid illegal cultivation). This could have impacts on other member states too.
4) EFSA is also asking EIHA for support on data about hemp cultivation and processing etc. We will come back to all processors soon.
All these points will have impacts also for other markets outside the European Union.
to 3): I will have a date in the German ministry to discuss this point in detail. I spoke already with them and there is a chance for modification. I am in close cooperation with Daniel Kruse.
to 1)+2): We propose to make an update of our report „Scientific Opinion on the safety of hemp (Cannabis genus) for use as animal feed“ (attached). Franjo, Linda and I would do the update in cooperation with. Prof. Brenneisen (Switzerland) and Jace Callaway. The update will cover the following topics:
– More general on the topic of THC limits and the no-effect level (not only related to the EFSA feed issue)
– Analyzing the latest scientific research on THC
– Deriving a proposal for the no-effect level
– EFSA feed issue
– German THC limits – explanation, discussion
– New proposal for THC limits based on the new derived no-effect level
– Impacts on limits for different kind of Hemp food (Hemp oil, beverages, etc.)
Such an updated report could be a „strong argument“ for our activities with The Commission and EFSA.
Cost estimations:
Franjo 40 h x 80 €/h = 3,200 €
nova-Team (Linda, Michael, Layout) = 3,000 €
budget for additional experts (Brenneisen, Jace, Gero …) = 2,000 €
Total budget 8,200 € plus German VAT 19%
How this can be covered? And this is only the first step – after this we have to organize and finance further research, meetings, statements and traveling costs.
Financing so far:
– 4,000 € from EIHA
– ? € support from US/Canada by John Roulac, Anndrea Hermann, Shaun Crew, David Bronner
– 1,000 € Daniel Kruse, Hempro (Germany)
– 1,000 € Michal Tőzsér, Propaganda Production (Slovakia)
Many thanks to the companies! I hope we can find the missing budget as soon as possible to start our activities as soon as possible!
Best regards
Michael