WASHINGTON – The four leading dietary supplement industry associations applaud Representative Kurt Schrader (D, Ore.) and Representative Morgan Griffith (R,Va.), for introducing bipartisan legislation that would protect public health by providing legal clarity in the cannabidiol (CBD) product marketplace. The Hemp and Hemp derived CBD Consumer Protection and Market Stabilization Act of 2020 directs the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to use its authority and resources to set a clear regulatory framework for hemp and hemp derived CBD and assure consumer protection.

A growing number of Americans view hemp and hemp derived CBD as a way to improve health and wellbeing, driving high consumer demand and a proliferation of CBD-containing products on the marketplace. While the 2018 Farm Bill changed the law to allow hemp farming, regulatory uncertainty remains about the inclusion of hemp and hemp derived CBD in dietary supplements. This lack of regulatory clarity along with insufficient oversight around hemp and hemp derived CBD exposes consumers to potentially unsafe products and lack of consistency in product quality.

Recognizing the urgent need to address confusion around the legal status of hemp and hemp derived CBD, the American Herbal Products Association (AHPA), Consumer Healthcare Products Association (CHPA), Council for Responsible Nutrition (CRN), and United Natural Products Alliance (UNPA) have been calling on Congress to provide FDA statutory authority and additional resources to regulate hemp and hemp derived CBD as a dietary supplement.

This legislation would allow hemp and hemp derived CBD to be legally marketed in dietary supplements so long as manufacturers comply with new dietary ingredient requirements and other Food and Drug Act dietary supplement policies. This pathway for hemp and hemp derived CBD products to be legally marketed, would put in place necessary safeguards to protect public health. A legal hemp and hemp derived CBD pathway would also provide much needed certainty to hemp farmers.

The dietary supplement industry is proud to support the Hemp and Hemp derived CBD Consumer Protection and Market Stabilization Act of 2020 and we urge Congress to consider including the bill in a legislative vehicle soon.

AHPA, CHPA, CRN, UNPA, along with the Hemp Roundtable, sent lawmakers a letter expressing unified support for the legislation.