India takes first steps to open up a market for hemp seed products

One of the reasons for the underdevelopment of the Indian market is the lack of quality seed material, so the huge opening market in the next few years may become one of the main export destinations for national companies specializing in breeding and seed production.

Indian government authorities responsible for food safety have approved the use of hemp seeds, flour and oil made from the seeds of the plant as food or food ingredients.

The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India has approved regulations that partially reveal the potential use of hemp grain in the country's food and beverage sectors.

According to a number of analysts on the global hemp market, although this step only partially solves the problem of the lack of a regulatory framework that hinders the development of the hemp industry in India, it is directed in the right direction. This kind of action by government officials is an important milestone for the development of the country's cannabis industry, paving the way for the future development of modern cannabis production. However, there are a number of questions that still remain to be answered before the hemp seed can be sold in the Indian market without any difficulty. It should be borne in mind that the document signed by the state structures so far concerns exclusively “the fallen seeds”, I.e. the above rules do not apply to the huge market for products made from classic shell grains.

In addition to the above, other key elements of the Indian rules for working with hemp seeds are:

- the  possibility of using exclusively hemp grain from plants in the dried mass of which the amount of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) does not exceed 0.3% as food or food ingredients;

-  the THC content in the seeds of food products should not exceed 5 mg / kg, and the amount of tetrahydrocannabinol in the oil extracted from such grains should not exceed 10 mg / kg;

-  drinks made from hemp seeds should not contain more than 0.2 mg / kg THC;

-  Hemp seed flour is defined as “the solid product after the seeds are ground to a powder with or without oil extraction”. Such products cannot contain more than 5 mg / kg THC;

-  cannabidiol levels in hemp seeds or hemp seed-based foods cannot exceed 75 mg / kg;

-  product labels cannot demonstrate any psychoactive effects, and also include any statements related to therapeutic properties due to the content of cannabinoids in them; 

-  it is prohibited to use any images of a hemp plant, hemp leaves (except for grain), as well as the words cannabis, marijuana or other terms that have a similar meaning.

Commentary of the specialists of the Association "Ukrainian technical hemp"

One of the reasons for the underdevelopment of the Indian market is the lack of quality seed material, so the huge opening market in the next few years may become one of the main export destinations for national companies specializing in breeding and seed production.

Particular attention is drawn to the absurdity of the requirements for grain and its derivatives in terms of the content of tetrahydrocannabinol in them. Not only does this contradict the main provisions of the "Single Concept on Narcotic Drugs", but nature also created the hemp seed in such a way that it does not contain any cannabinoids (this is in theory). In practice, regularly members of the specialized association of national cannabis growers are faced with situations when export supplies of commercial grain or seed material are blocked by the customs authorities of our country due to the lack of documents stating that there is no tetrahydrocannabinol in the grain. That is why Indian officials have followed the principle that has been practiced in the economically developed countries of the world for the past several years - the development of maximum allowable THC values ​​in any products that are on the market. And in this matter, it makes sense for our government officials to learn from their Indian colleagues, who initially put the solution to this problem in the theses of the legislation being formed.