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.

The May 2020 AHPA Report includes the 2019 AHPA Annual Report, the 2020 AHPA Awards, AOAC Official Method of Analysis for cannabinoids in hemp, free cGMP webinars, AHPA advocacy in Oregon, supply chain issues, and more.

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 new validation and approval will allow laboratories to evaluate hemp for tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) on a dry-weight basis, as described by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Interim Final Rule governing the production of hemp under the 2018 Agriculture Improvement Act, known as the Farm Bill.

The SHP Sustainability and Regenerative Practices Toolkit is a collection of practical resources and best practices, specific to the herb and botanical business sectors, that businesses of any size can utilize to become more socially and environmentally responsible. Ultimately, it provides an ethos of caring for the people and planet from where herbs originate.

This webinar provides an overview of dietary supplement current good manufacturing (cGMP) requirements for hemp-CBD products. Legal and industry experts provide strategies and resources to comply and document compliance with  federal manufacturing requirements designed to ensure supplement product quality and safety.

This webinar is designed to help businesses in the dietary supplement industry understand the elements of current Good Manufacturing Practice (cGMP) regulations (21 CFR 111) that have been the primary focus of FDA inspections. This knowledge will assist businesses in better allocating and directing their compliance resources.

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.

In January 2020, Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol (Δ9 THC) was added to the Proposition 65 list as a chemical known to cause reproductive toxicity. While Δ9 THC is present at only trace levels in hemp products, companies marketing hemp products in California should evaluate whether a warning is needed for these products. Also of concern, are other chemicals on the Proposition 65 list that may be used in the cultivation and processing of hemp and marijuana, such as the pesticides myclobutanil and carbaryl, for which some cannabis businesses have received Proposition 65 notices.