Guyana To Appoint Hemp Regulatory Authority, After Two Years of Waiting.

Guyana’s Minister of Agriculture Zulfikar Mustapha, announced recently that the Industrial Hemp Regulatory Authority should be set up within a month. Secretary of the Guyana Hemp Association (GHA), Cort Gomes cited 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 charged with considering and investigating applications for the issuance, refusal, varying, suspension or revocation of licences, and prescribing cultivation quotas for license tier. 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 and to supervise or control industrial hemp or hemp-related products to ensure compliance with the Industrial Hemp Act or any other law.

Guyana’s 2022 Industrial Hemp Act decriminalized hemp cultivation under a dividing line between hemp and marijuana at 0.3% THC, and set a relatively strict basic framework. The legislation empowers authorities to search producers’ premises and seize property if they are suspected of growing without a permit. Unlicensed hemp operators could be fined up to $500,000 and receive one-year prison sentences. Also, IHRA is required to collaborate with the Customs Anti-Narcotic Unit (CANU) in the monitoring of production.

Advocates have said that once hemp production is scaled, the country could initially find export markets for some raw products. They see economic benefits not only from hemp farming and processing, but also from ancillary industries such as marketing, banking, insurance and retail sectors.

Supporters have quoted studies that indicate that planting 100,000 hectares (~250,000 acres) could create 40,000-50,000 sustainable jobs, bringing economic development through carbon credits and from a wide range of outputs from hemp grain and stalks. The government sees hemp production as a way to stimulate job creation and further develop Guyana’s agriculture sector. Current Government records indicate that 30,000-50,000 farmers are currently out of work.