Last week, Officials of Joe Biden administration’s USDA( United States Department of Agriculture) held their first summit with hemp sector stakeholders to acquire more insight on the market’s requirements.
Amid the meeting, Patrick Atagi, board chair of National Industrial Hemp Council, discussed with Kevin Shea, acting agriculture secretary about major areas of focus for hemp ventures, particularly since they entail certification and testing laboratories.
They also discussed issues such as a hemp checkoff system, regulatory enforcement, boosting hemp’s research and development and trade parameters.
Atagi said during a phone interview that the primary objective of the summit was to ensure the country’s agriculture department is working on current hemp issues. He added that there were incoming political individuals who may or may not know the hemp sector.
In January, Patrick was appointed by the USTR, United States Trade Representative and USDA to serve on the state trade advisory commission. He said that the meeting went exactly as planned. He further said that the summit was intended to ensure the department is coherent with Joe’s choice for agriculture, Vilsack Tom, efforts via the confirmation procedure.
Patrick is the second NIHC associate to join a USTR and USDA panel. Latner Kevin, the panel’s deputy director for marketing, was selected to serve on the Agricultural Technical Advisory Trade Committee in Processed Commodities during July.
Atagi disclosed that more work has to be done and the USDA is bringing in folks such as him who know the agency, are familiar with regulations and can identify hiccups in reform areas.
Hemp ventures are prepping themselves for the enactment of the Agriculture Department’s hemp final regulation that was launched in January. Those laws are expected to be enacted on 22nd March.
Industry participants say the regulation is a positive leap forward that’ll offer businesses with the required guidance.
