Getting the World in Tune

Imagine that I’m a manufacturer in Medellin making cannabidiol (CBD) products. Keep in mind, this isn’t your grandfather’s Colombia. There’s a progressive regulatory scheme, an abundance of capital, and a population of 40 million progressively educated people. Despite all these developments, is there a domestic market for my CBD products? Not really. But there can be.  

Foreign governments tend to treat cannabis in terms of psychoactive marijuana and non-psychoactive hemp. But 75% of the Colombian populace is Roman Catholic and doesn’t make that same distinction. It’s a drug, and especially given the country’s history, we don’t do drugs. As a Medellin-based manufacturer, one must turn the focus to the global cannabis economy, but my products are essentially stalled, if not temporarily prohibited from being exported to lucrative cannabis markets in Europe and the U.S.

In recent years, I’ve traveled to many countries, including Colombia, where this is the case. Goods that are shipped internationally need accompanying standardization certificates. For Colombia, just look at the example of two other major exports, coffee and flowers. For plant matter, the standardization document is a phytosanitary certification. For consumable products, there are documents ensuring the product was manufactured in a GMP-accredited facility, produced to consumer standards, and regulated by the government in terms of production quality and consistency.  So why can’t hemp-derived products be reliably exported from Colombia?

Simply because they’re treated differently from other commodities. The same standardized controls and processes that other exports require aren’t being implemented as a general rule for cannabis-derived products. If I could send one message to the global cannabis marketplace, it would be this: start treating these products like your other export commodities.

What about in the U.S.?

At Hoban Law Group, we often hear, “We’re waiting for the FDA to establish regulations.”

Consider this: something is not illegal simply because it’s not regulated at the federal level. It’s a legal product unless it’s identified as a controlled substance, or otherwise legally prohibited. The Farm Bill removed cannabis with less than a 0.3 percent concentration of THC - defined as legal hemp - from the controlled substances list, so what are we waiting for? And many states have filled the regulatory void by permitting hemp derivative production facilities. The standards already exist.

If your company wants to participate in the growing global cannabis economy, it’s imperative to use the existing standards and rules dictating international trade -- namely GMP standards, food/dietary supplement production standards, and the like.

Hemp-derived products are on shelves around the world that were manufactured in Colorado, because these companies are following guidelines at the state-level. For more than five years, we’ve been advising HLG clients to follow these guidelines voluntarily - even when it cuts into their profit margin. That’s the best and safest way to position yourself for large-scale success “when the time comes.” Take a look around and you’ll realize: the time has come; standards already exist; and Americans don’t usually wait for the government to tell them how to do something. Game on.

This originally appeared on Hoban.law.