It is proposed to create more favorable conditions for importing fibrous hemp into Lithuania

newsin 2024 May 9 20:09

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Jadvyga BieliavskaSource: ELTA

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The Seimas is starting to consider the amendments to the Fibrous Hemp Law submitted by the Minister of Agriculture Kęstutis Navickos, which aim to create more favorable conditions for the import of fibrous hemp products and their products from other European Union (EU) countries into Lithuania.

Amendments to the fiber hemp law were supported by 38 parliamentarians after submission on Thursday, 7 were against, 9 abstained. After passing the deliberations in the committees, they should appear in the plenary hall in mid-June.

According to K. Navickos, the need to change the law arose from practical matters. According to him, importers intending to import fibrous hemp products to Lithuania do not always have the opportunity to obtain a certificate that they are made from fibrous hemp, in which the THC content does not exceed the permitted limit of 0.3 percent.

“Not all countries regulate as strictly as we do and do not issue such certificates. As a result, we propose to refuse such a certificate”, K. Navickas said when presenting the project.

Amendments to the law also propose to allow the import of a limited amount of seeds of non-legalized EU fibrous hemp varieties from third countries for scientific experimental or breeding purposes without an import license.

“For scientific purposes, not for the market. There is nothing wrong with that, if it were grown to see how it grows, what kind of yield new varieties give”, said K. Navickas, who mentioned cooperation with Ukraine as an example.

Meanwhile, the opposition of the Seimas saw the risk of controlling the amount of THC.

“You are removing the European requirement for a permissible limit of 0.3 percent and it will be impossible to ensure that it is respected.” (…) You are not strengthening control. It will be possible to grow and obtain high-concentration products, and control will be as if it were a fiber,” said Agnė Širinskienė, deputy chairperson of the Law and Order Committee of the Seimas.

“Won’t it be the case that you will open legal distribution for illegal purposes, have you assessed those risks?” asked Rita Tamašunienė, an elder of the Mixed faction of the Seimas.

Seimas member Artūras Skardžius warned that it might happen that “after opening the door, we won’t close it anymore”.

Aurelijus Veryga, the deputy elder of the Lithuanian Peasants and Greens Union faction of the Seimas, also called for the amendments to the law not to be adopted.

“Today, tricks are already taking place. Hemp is not grown for fiber at all. Basically trying to find any loophole and bypass the normal research that would allow or pass it off as an unusual, non-traditional food, e.g. any oils that are not intended for therapeutic purposes or to recognize them as pharmaceutical products after normal tests. Now they are trying to create some kind of “gray” zone, when people are told that they are selling cosmetic products. (…).

The author of the project, Seimas member K. Navickas, rejected the accusations, stating that the control and requirements regarding the permitted limit of 0.3 percent remain in other provisions of the law.

“Here is a question of refusing one document. If some countries do not have it, how will the importer get it? No way,” he said.

Risks can be managed through legislation, he said. The Minister also agreed that it would be possible to designate specific companies that would be allowed to import no more than 6 kg of non-legalized seeds of non-EU fiber hemp varieties for scientific purposes.

If the Seimas approves, there would be no requirement in the law that fibrous hemp products supplied to the Lithuanian market and their products must be made from fibrous hemp, in which the THC content does not exceed the permitted limit of 0.3 percent. It is also suggested not to require certificates confirming this.

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