The Australian Hemp Council (AHC) has launched a campaign to raise funds needed to meet newly established requirements that would clarify the market for hemp in animal feeds.
After the AHC engaged in extensive discussions with the Federal Agricultural Minister, the Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority (APVMA) and the Federal Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, APVMA set down compliance requirements under which hemp fractions (meal and hulls) used for “sustenance” purposes only must undergo an agency technical assessment.
Also, “hemp fractions” used in a product making claims but not a “therapeutic” ingredient, such as hempseed oil, must undergo an “ingredient determination” by the APVMA.
Sorting out ‘fractions’
AHC said it needs AU$50,000 (US$33,000/€30,000) to do the work necessary to meet those requirements, and has appealed to stakeholders for contributions.
AHC’s primary goal is to establish the differences between cannabinoids derived from the hemp flower, and waste “fractions” from hemp seed, according to a recently released paper.
That distinction would remove those production leftovers from jurisdiction by the APVMA, which claims it has not received sufficient information to determine whether hempseed meal and hulls are non-“therapeutic” and truly “sustenance only.”
‘Therapeutic’ vs. ‘sustenance’
APVMA considers as “therapeutic” and therefore asserts authority over cannabinoids and the fatty acids omega 3 and 6, which are found primarily in the hemp seed and hempseed oil downstream.
However, hempseed meal left over from pressing hemp seeds into oil, and hemp hulls, should be considered “sustenance only,” according to the paper, by agricultural scientist and hemp grower Bronwyn Blake, who is leading the AHC animal feed initiative.
Hemp hulls provide fiber, and hemp seed meal offers both protein and fiber. Regulation of those derivatives should be under Australian state governments, Blake suggests.
‘We are quickly learning’
Blake said after Food Standards Australia New Zealand allowed hemp seed products to legally be consumed by humans in November 2017, many stakeholders mistakenly assumed those products could also be fed to animals, including pets. Some hemp businesses and products for animals appeared on the market, making health claims, which is not allowed for unregistered products or ingredients.
“This naivety was the catalyst for today’s restrictions. We can safely assume that compliant pet food manufacturers were a little put out by all of the non-compliant hemp products hitting the market and some of the health claims that accompanied them,” Blake writes in the paper.
In a position paper published in August 2023, APVMA said it considers all products containing all forms of cannabis and cannabinoids as veterinary medicines that require registration.
“What we are quickly learning as an industry is that, no matter what the science says, you can’t make a claim unless it has already been approved by the government,” according to Blake.
