As the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) continues to defy mounting requests from the US Congress and the natural products industry to provide science-based and public health regulations for CBD, more states are rushing in to fill the vacuum. Iowa recently became the latest state to propose new state regulations for consumable hemp and CBD products. 

The proposed rule requires the Iowa Department of Health to establish by rule packaging and labeling requirements for consumable hemp products. It also requires the Department to establish registration requirements for manufacturers and sellers of consumable hemp products, including standards for the revocation of registration.

“This is an opportunity for Iowa’s farmers to participate in the growing hemp marketplace and to provide consumers with more confidence to know that the products they use every day are safe and regulated.  However, we are concerned that inaction from the FDA is creating the regulatory nightmare and patchwork approach that is the worst of all worlds.  This is a federal regulatory issue, FDA needs to do its job, and they need to do it now.  Further delay by FDA is not good for public health or for the CBD industry, because the best approach is one uniform national standard based on sound science that is enforceable,” said Daniel Fabricant, Ph.D., President and CEO of the Natural Products Association (NPA).

While supporting the proposal for its focus on consumer safety, NPA requested the state amend the proposed rule to eliminate the mandated consumable hemp retailer registration. Registrations such as this one, are not required for retailers who carry traditional dietary supplements, such as, vitamin-D or calcium and we believe should not be attributed to retailers who decide to sell consumable hemp products.

NPA has been the leader in asking the FDA to regulate CBD since 2017, has testified on a number of occasions, and has held several meetings with top FDA officials on the issue.  NPA also helped craft legislation passed by the U.S. House of Representatives that provides resources so the FDA can perform a Health Hazard Evaluation (HHE) and set a safe level of CBD for consumers to use each day.  The process would follow the same precedent as red yeast rice, which allows a natural product to contain a level of a drug ingredient that the FDA has determined to be safe.

For more on CBD regulations, check out this upcoming webinar.