Hemp licensing board’s appointment nears

Last Updated on Tuesday, 6 August 2024, 20:35 by Writer

Prospective hemp cultivators would soon get the opportunity to apply for licences to do so, as Minister of Agriculture Zulfikar Mustapha on Tuesday said the Industrial Hemp Regulatory Authority would be appointed in the coming weeks.

He said the names of the intended board members would be taken to Cabinet “very shortly” and the Board would be established. “I’m hoping that within a month we’ll get it set up,” he told Demerara Waves Online News.

Secretary of the Guyana Hemp Association (GHA), Cort Gomes at the weekend said the absence of the Authority, as provided for in the Industrial Hemp Act 2022, was holding up hemp cultivation.

The Industrial Hemp Regulatory Authority will be tasked with considering and investigating applications for the issuance, refusal, varying, suspension or revocation of licences, and prescribing cultivation quotas for each licensee. The Authority’s legal powers also include determining the number of licences to be issued, considering any impact on public health, safety, security, commerce and agriculture or any exclusive rights of any person, and collaborate with the Customs Anti-Narcotics Unit or any other relevant authority to monitor, supervise or control industrial hemp or hemp-related products to ensure compliance with the Industrial Hemp Act or any other law.

The GHA had recommended that 60 to 80 percent of the licence fees be handed t0 CANU to assist with monitoring of hemp cultivation as part of measures to ensure that people do not use hemp cultivation as a shelter for the planting of marijuana.