The EIHA is a membership organization that represents the common interests of hemp farmers, producers, and traders working with fiber, shives (hurd), seeds, flower, and cannabinoids in the European Union (EU).
Farmers in the EU operate within the agricultural system of their country, similar to how U.S. producers operate within their state frameworks. EIHA addresses the goals and concerns of farmers from different backgrounds by promoting regulations that benefit the European hemp industry as a whole.
Some EU laws are binding and must be followed, while others are recommendations. The laws on hemp are not binding and all member states can establish their own legislation. However, most members follow EU directives, and what is decided in the European Parliament, the EU’s directly elected law-making body, is ultimately important for all hemp growers in Europe.
The EIHA helps set the international standards by identifying hurdles limiting the European hemp industry, explaining to EU legislators why it is important to establish transparent regulations based on scientific evidence, and building the majority support required to implement change.
The EIHA has been instrumental in making changes that keep European farmers growing hemp profitably while increasing production. North American and other international groups seeking similar changes can learn by emulating EIHA’s successes.
From the Start
The EIHA started in Cologne, Germany, in 2002. Since its launch, the EIHA’s network has grown to encompass stakeholders from 25 out of the 27 EU member states and 12 non-EU countries, including members in North America and the Asia Pacific region.
The EIHA moved its main office to Brussels, Belgium, in 2019 to encourage closer contact with EU institutions and better lobby for the future of hemp in Europe.
Today, the organization acts on behalf of around 250 members, representing the entire industrial hemp production chain from seed to shelf.
Fighting for Change
The organization has accomplished many successes in establishing EU regulations.
In October 2020, the EU Parliament voted to restore the maximum THC level of hemp crops on the field, from 0.2% to 0.3% dry weight. And just a couple months later, the final amendment of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) was adopted after the EIHA had several long discussions aimed at working out compromises between EU institutions.
CAP will enter into force January 2023 and presents the possibility for farmers to receive subsidies for growing hemp varieties registered in the EU catalog with a maximum THC level of 0.3%. Maximum allowable levels of THC in Cannabis crops vary between European countries (e.g., Italy = 0.6%; Czech Republic = 1%, etc.), and farmers in those countries who grow other varieties than the EU-approved varieties will not receive subsidies.
“Piece by piece, we are achieving a true single hemp market for Europe. We will continue in this direction and do our best to make life easier for hemp farmers and processors,” - Lorenza Romanese, European Industrial Hemp Association Managing Director.EIHA’s protracted battle with the EU over THC levels took place over a decade. In a press release last year, Romanese explained, "I am proud of what has been achieved. We worked hard to ensure that hemp had the recognition it deserves in the Common Agricultural Policy. I would say that this small step reflects that EU legislators are closer to fully acknowledging and recognizing the existence of a legitimate European hemp sector."
Ongoing Battles
According to the release, EIHA’s continual struggle is for hemp to be recognized by the EU as a normal agricultural crop, not a drug plant, and collectively demand science-based, transparent policies that will enable the European hemp sector to flourish.
“Having a botanical link to drug cannabis cannot, and must not, sentence an entire hemp industry to death,” Romanese said in a 2020 press release. The release referred to a joint letter drafted by a group of national hemp advocacy groups asking the European Commission (EC), the EU’s executive branch, to address limitations imposed by the United Nations Single Convention Treaty on Narcotic Drugs.
As it is today, all EU countries have their own regulations concerning CBD. Some countries regulate various CBD products under their drug law, while other countries regulate it as a dietary supplement.
"Hemp is the only agricultural plant that is divided into parts like flowers, seeds, and fibers with different chemical limits. The poppy seed industry does not comply to opiate limits,” Romanese says, pointing out that poppies are used to make opiates.
“For hemp to be normalized like other crops, we need to treat it as a normal crop," she says.
Before the CBD market expanded, the problem of various parts of one crop being treated differently was not common in Europe. It is important to have a common approach to all fractions that can be extracted from hemp, as farmers today may want to grow for CBD rather than seed or fiber.
Romanese also noted another complex topic that presents an ongoing challenge for the EIHA. Although in their natural state, hemp seeds and the oil within them do not contain THC, most THC is produced in the enveloping flowers (and is allowable at levels of less than 0.3% by dry weight set forth by EU regulations). Thus, the surface of the seed can potentially contain traces of THC during harvest and processing that may be detected in hempseed products.
The EU recently established the regulations for the maximum levels of THC in hempseed products for human consumption. The levels are set at 3 milligrams per kilogram (approx. 1.4 mg/pound) for dry products (flour, proteins, seeds, snacks) and 7.5 milligrams per kilogram (approx. 3.4 mg/pound) for hempseed oil throughout the entire EU.
READ MORE: European Commission Sets THC Limits for Hempseed Food Products
Before the regulations were set, there were inconsistencies in regulations between the 27 EU member states, which put operators in a difficult situation and often impeded the smooth trade in hemp products or blocked trade altogether.
The adoption of common EU regulations encourages farmers and promotes trade, Romanese says. “Piece by piece, we are achieving a true single hemp market for Europe. We will continue in this direction and do our best to make life easier for hemp farmers and processors,” Romanese said in a March press release.
The EU has defined the limits of THC in foods, which are now in line with international markets, but EIHA plans to continue its work with clinical toxicologists to further understand the toxic limits of cannabinoids, including CBD and other minor cannabinoids, in the human diet.
The marketing of minor cannabinoids also presents many limitations.
For example, since 2019, CBD extract of hemp flowers has been classified as a "novel food.” A novel food is defined as a food that had not been consumed to a significant degree by humans in the EU before May 15, 1997, when the first regulation was enacted, Romanese says.
“We are here to unlock the full potential of hemp and discuss all together how to make the most out of all its applications, from the textile sector, to composites, food, supplements and medicines,” - Daniel Kruse, EIHA President.For a product to be classified as a novel food, a company must achieve a "pre-market authorization" by supplying scientific data, including a safety assessment report. The EIHA is assisting companies with this long and expensive process.
READ MORE: CBD Companies Speak to UK Novel Food Applications
Other Initiatives
The EIHA also organizes an annual international conference with participants from around the world. Since its inception, it has been based in Cologne, but this year it will take place in Brussels from June 21-22.
Last year's 18th annual conference was a three-day online event with the theme “Hemp for Europe: Emerging opportunities for the Green Recovery.” Representatives from the European Parliament and EC attended the event for the first time as keynote speakers and panelists. They highlighted the vital role hemp plays as a carbon-neutral crop plant—a key step in achieving the EU’s Green Deal environmental protection targets.
“Our mission is to educate and raise awareness on how hemp could put forward innovative solutions capable of accelerating the transition towards a regenerative growth model that gives back to the planet more than it takes, whilst creating thousands of new jobs in rural areas and in manufacturing,” said Daniel Kruse, EIHA president, in a 2021 press release. “We are here to unlock the full potential of hemp and discuss all together how to make the most out of all its applications, from the textile sector, to composites, food, supplements and medicine.”
During those days, panelists shared ideas and best practices on hemp farming, fiber processing, and bio-composites, with a special focus on how to build strong local value chains.
EIHA’s Senior Policy Advisor Francesco Mirizzi, an EU lobbying expert with international experience both in the private and public sectors, is dedicated to this topic. He deals with agricultural aspects of hemp production and covers the hemp construction and textiles sectors.
"I believe that the future for hemp textile fibers will be in the production of non-woven fabrics for agricultural uses and packaging as well as woven blends with different fibers," Francesco says. “Although there is market demand for European hemp fibers, there are no centralized producers, the supply is scattered, and new processing facilities are needed to respond to a growing demand of hemp fiber and shive products.”
The hemp industry must increasingly collaborate with research institutions and policymakers to educate and raise awareness of how hemp could put forward innovative solutions. Accommodating members from diverse walks of life within a single organization, as EIHA has done, is a necessary challenge. Although hemp is beneficial for many uses, without a centralized voice, these smaller factions may not be heard, and policymakers may remain uninformed.
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