Congressional Leaders Release Request for Information (RFI) on CBD Regulation – Your Input Needed!

July 27, 2023 will go down as an historic moment for the hemp industry, and we hope a major turning point for our efforts to secure FDA regulation of CBD and other hemp derivatives.

As the first congressional hearing on hemp and CBD concluded (ICYMI: Here’s the full report), four key congressional leaders, representing the top House and Senate Democrats and Republicans with jurisdiction over FDA, released a Request for Information (RFI) to help guide them for legislative efforts to regulate hemp extracts like CBD.

It’s no longer an if as to whether we will soon see federal regulation of CBD. This RFI makes clear that it is a when and how. And we’d love YOUR help in developing the pathway.

The RFI’s requests and questions include: 

• Please comment on the concerns FDA has raised with regard to regulating most CBD products through existing pathways (i.e., conventional foods, dietary supplements, and cosmetics), and FDA’s view that there is a need for a new regulatory pathway for CBD products. If existing regulatory pathways are sufficient for regulating CBD products, please explain how these existing pathways can be used to address the concerns raised by FDA, as appropriate. 
• How has the absence of federal regulation over CBD created a market for intoxicating, synthetically-produced compounds, such as Delta-8 THC, THC-O, THC-B, HHC-P, and others? 
• How should a new framework for CBD products balance consumer safety with consumer access? 
• What precedent exists in foods, dietary supplements, tobacco, and cosmetics for requirements of labeling to present risks to special populations in labeling (e.g., children, pregnant and lactating women, consumers taking certain drugs, etc.)? What amount and type of evidence has been required to support such requirements? 

CLICK HERE to read the full RFI. Responses are due August 18, 2023.

The US Hemp Roundtable will be preparing a comprehensive response to this RFI. We’d love to hear from you. Please click the link below and share your responses to the critical questions posed by the RFI.