UK hemp and CBD industry on track for international market dominance, argues ACI

07 Feb 2022 --- The Association for the Cannabinoid Industry (ACI) is throwing off concerns over the future of the UK’s hemp industry after alliances accused a recent government CBD report of excluding crop producers in favor of pharmaceutical and research laboratory businesses.

Dr. Parveen Bhatarah, regulatory and compliance lead at the ACI, tells NutritionInsight this is not the case. The UK’s CBD market is now positioned as a serious international market contender, particularly compared to other EU countries. 

Her comments follow the release of a year-long research report conducted by the UK’s Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD), which sets out recommendations for extraction processes, labeling rules, and caps for psychoactive compound levels like THC, which are also found in cannabis plants from which CBD is produced. 

“ACMD has done excellent work in reviewing the CBD industry’s data, understanding the challenges industry is facing due to current regulations. The proposed suggestions are scientifically robust and will help the industry manufacture consistently compliant products,” asserts Bhatarah. 

“This will make the UK [cannabinoid] industry competitive to the rest of the world.”

The ACI says UK legislation is “ironically” racing ahead of the EU by using its guidance criteria.Hemp hampering? 
Previously, representatives from the British Hemp Alliance (BHA) and Scottish Hemp Alliance both told NutritionInsight the ACMD report excludes and threatens to damage the growth of the UK’s hemp farming industry. 

The ACMD report stipulates that “a licensed grower of hemp must only cultivate a cannabis strain that is on the approved seed type list and contains less than 0.2% Delta-9 THC to meet the requirements of that license.” 

“This license only allows for the use of uncontrolled parts of the cannabis plant and therefore should not be used to cultivate material for any other purpose including creating CBD isolate,” states the report.  

BHA says excluding hemp farmers from using their crops to create CBD is due to government shareholders favoring pharmaceutical and “new research” methods of CBD productions, from which they personally profit. 

 Dr. Bhatarah says this is not the case. “I do not see any adverse effect on the hemp industry – if anything, there should be more growth.” 

Improving standards 
UK hemp associations accuse the government of neglecting hemp producers in a bid to profit from new pharmaceutical techniques in which they hold shares.While the ACI applauds the “excellent” standard of research done by the ACMD, Dr. Bhatarah also says there are several areas where more detail could help industry develop. 

“The limit of 50 µg for Delta-9 THC (combined with THA) in a single-serving CBD consumer product needs little more clarity.”

“ACMD’s report suggests methods are validated followed by further inter laboratory ring trials to show accuracy to detect controlled cannabinoids. Laboratories assessing compliance would need related cannabinoid reference standards to perform their quality assessment testing,” she explains. 

“Major suppliers of drug-related chemical reference materials provide certified reference standards for the most common phytocannabinoids of analytical interest such as Delta-9-THC, Delta-9-THCA-A, Delta-8-THC, THCV, CBD, CBN and CBC. However, standards are not currently commercially available for all controlled phytocannabinoids.” 

UK cannabis racing past EU
Despite the need for further clarity and detail in the UK’s CBD licensing regulations, ACI notes the ACMD report is another step in the country’s international advancement as a CBD player. 

Bhatarah says the report “goes a long way” to assist the CBD market given the “considerable lack of understanding surrounding the substance, both on a consumer and government level.” 

The UK CBD market has now grown to £690 million (US$932 million) in value, says the ACI. The market’s high value comes with a degree of irony, says Dr. Bhatarah, since the UK is making progress using EU standards that remain dormant in most of the bloc’s nations. 

“It is the UK taking the CBD industry on the road to compliance using the European Food Standard Authority’s NFA guidance while EU countries are watching the progress made by the UK,” she asserts. 

CBD was declared a Novel Food in Europe in January 2019. Despite this, the UK was the only country to require companies to submit an application for their CBD products, giving a deadline of March 2021. 

The Novel Food Application (NFA) process requires that applicants submit very detailed information on their products, explains Dr. Bhatarah. This includes compositional analysis, nutritional content, absorption, distribution, metabolism, excretion, toxicology records and safety information to the UK’s Food Standards Agency. 

“Here, at ACI, we have been assisting the CBD industry through the whole process and set up a consortium to study, which is coming to completion soon,” concludes Dr. Bhatarah. 

By Louis Gore-Langton