The US Hemp Authority has officially suspended the problematic certification program we addressed in our open letter. This result confirms that accountability remains an essential part of our industry. I appreciate the time each of you invested to ensure our standards for transparency were properly upheld.
May 30, 2019
Wilbur's Pen - Add Your Name to Stop Self- Proclaimed "US Hemp Authority's" Pay-to-Play Certification Program
Final supporters
The self-titled "US Hemp Authority" has created a costly certification that has prohibitive pricing and does not meet common sustainability practices. The following statement was posted on Facebook today by Palmetto Harmony. I want to us to join her and add our names to the letter. I'm hoping for 1,000 signatures soon and the will be delivered to the "Hemp Authority".
"This seal does not require any notice of GMO’s, does not require organic practices, does not require them to put a country of origin of where their hemp is grown and manufactured, and worst of all even allows for certification of synthetic cannabinoids. What it does do is put unreasonable requirements on US farmers. And the program is very expensive (more so than USDA organic certification which we are in the midst of now!)
Also to note a tremendous amount of their first round verifiers are board members of the US Hemp Roundtable Which was the original funders of this certification program and steered its requirements. (Which still remains to be seen what is really being certified?). A voting member board seat on the Round Table is 25k a year. So this program in my opinion is based off a pay to play and funded by several foreign entity companies now claiming to do business in the U.S.. Some of these companies are using GMO’s and have had real issues with transparency and now will use this seal to continue to not have to be transparent.
That being said our open letter went out to them last week again please click below to read. And we have a meeting with the authority on Monday in Anaheim to address these issues. We will not approve nor participate in this program until it is a true certification seal that actually protects consumers and does not give them a “false sense of security”! If the program gets fixed and a 2.0 version is released then we will consider participation.
Please do not fall for this!! This is another play for these big companies to choke out the little guy. We will see a push on social media in the coming months that will try to get people to only purchase products with this seal and that makes them safe and legal? But understand it does not certify organic, non synthetic cannabinoids, non GMO’s, basically all the items we look for as consumers for ourself and our loved ones.
Read the open letter to the US Hemp Authority
(Copied from Palmetto Harmony's public Facebook Post.)
Updates
Reached 100 supporters
March 3, 2019
43 Comments
I fully support the contents of the open letter to protect the interests of small and medium sized enterprises in the hemp industry. The Hemp Roundtable does not sufficiently represent the interests of all stakeholders in this burgeoning industry.
A certification program by those certifying their own products, need you know more? Sham
Pay to play is BS! 25k a year fee.? Get out of here with that. Just as bad as the FDA, no requirements for organic. Joke joke joke.
Anyone who has paid these inflated fees for this certification will be very disappointed when it really doesn’t mean anything to consumers, retailers, or any US government agencies.
Please investigate this so called certified status. Consumers have every right to know where a product they are buying and consuming comes from. And I do not think money should buy a certified status. Help keep consumers safe by requiring companies who make products to be transparent with the manufacturing of their products and disclose all the ingredients and testing of said products. Consumers have lost their faith in the very systems set up to protect us. Change that by Setting a example with a honest set of standards for ALL hemp farmers and manufacture to follow that is not based on paying for a seal that is misleading .
pay-to-play is no good for human beings...only corporate entities. knock it off!
Pay-To-Play... Not the direction this industry needs to head. NO.
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The US Hemp Authority has officially suspended the problematic certification program we addressed in our open letter. This result confirms that accountability remains an essential part of our industry. I appreciate the time each of you invested to ensure our standards for transparency were properly upheld.
May 30, 2019
Wilbur's Pen - Add Your Name to Stop Self- Proclaimed "US Hemp Authority's" Pay-to-Play Certification Program
Final supporters
The self-titled "US Hemp Authority" has created a costly certification that has prohibitive pricing and does not meet common sustainability practices. The following statement was posted on Facebook today by Palmetto Harmony. I want to us to join her and add our names to the letter. I'm hoping for 1,000 signatures soon and the will be delivered to the "Hemp Authority".
"This seal does not require any notice of GMO’s, does not require organic practices, does not require them to put a country of origin of where their hemp is grown and manufactured, and worst of all even allows for certification of synthetic cannabinoids. What it does do is put unreasonable requirements on US farmers. And the program is very expensive (more so than USDA organic certification which we are in the midst of now!)
Also to note a tremendous amount of their first round verifiers are board members of the US Hemp Roundtable Which was the original funders of this certification program and steered its requirements. (Which still remains to be seen what is really being certified?). A voting member board seat on the Round Table is 25k a year. So this program in my opinion is based off a pay to play and funded by several foreign entity companies now claiming to do business in the U.S.. Some of these companies are using GMO’s and have had real issues with transparency and now will use this seal to continue to not have to be transparent.
That being said our open letter went out to them last week again please click below to read. And we have a meeting with the authority on Monday in Anaheim to address these issues. We will not approve nor participate in this program until it is a true certification seal that actually protects consumers and does not give them a “false sense of security”! If the program gets fixed and a 2.0 version is released then we will consider participation.
Please do not fall for this!! This is another play for these big companies to choke out the little guy. We will see a push on social media in the coming months that will try to get people to only purchase products with this seal and that makes them safe and legal? But understand it does not certify organic, non synthetic cannabinoids, non GMO’s, basically all the items we look for as consumers for ourself and our loved ones.
Read the open letter to the US Hemp Authority
(Copied from Palmetto Harmony's public Facebook Post.)
Updates
Reached 100 supporters
March 3, 2019
43 Comments
I am a USDA certified organic farmer. I know that the NOP has it's problems, and I also know that bad actors motivated by greed infiltrate just about every industry for profit. I have read many things regarding the Hemp Authority and it's certification program and the fees associated with it and my gut reaction was and is.. "WTF"... really...? More fees on farmers for a "standard" that is full of holes and is self serving to those with the money. The proverbial 800 lb gorilla that is always trying to kick my ass in the marketplace. ENOUGH already... !!!!! My partner Janet proposed the idea of "Open Source Medicine". Cannabis/Hemp belongs to the people... not government or corporations (is there really a difference anymore)
I fully support the contents of the open letter to protect the interests of small and medium sized enterprises in the hemp industry. The Hemp Roundtable does not sufficiently represent the interests of all stakeholders in this burgeoning industry.
A certification program by those certifying their own products, need you know more? Sham
Pay to play is BS! 25k a year fee.? Get out of here with that. Just as bad as the FDA, no requirements for organic. Joke joke joke.
Anyone who has paid these inflated fees for this certification will be very disappointed when it really doesn’t mean anything to consumers, retailers, or any US government agencies.
Please investigate this so called certified status. Consumers have every right to know where a product they are buying and consuming comes from. And I do not think money should buy a certified status. Help keep consumers safe by requiring companies who make products to be transparent with the manufacturing of their products and disclose all the ingredients and testing of said products. Consumers have lost their faith in the very systems set up to protect us. Change that by Setting a example with a honest set of standards for ALL hemp farmers and manufacture to follow that is not based on paying for a seal that is misleading .
pay-to-play is no good for human beings...only corporate entities. knock it off!
Pay-To-Play... Not the direction this industry needs to head. NO.
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I am a USDA certified organic farmer. I know that the NOP has it's problems, and I also know that bad actors motivated by greed infiltrate just about every industry for profit. I have read many things regarding the Hemp Authority and it's certification program and the fees associated with it and my gut reaction was and is.. "WTF"... really...? More fees on farmers for a "standard" that is full of holes and is self serving to those with the money. The proverbial 800 lb gorilla that is always trying to kick my ass in the marketplace. ENOUGH already... !!!!! My partner Janet proposed the idea of "Open Source Medicine". Cannabis/Hemp belongs to the people... not government or corporations (is there really a difference anymore)