Idaho is moving forward with proposed rules that would establish a new regulatory framework for businesses selling hemp products intended for human ingestion or inhalation, including licensing, inspections, testing and retailer fees.
A public notice published October 6 says the Idaho Department of Agriculture is advancing Docket 02-0107-2601 as a proposed fee rule following negotiated rulemaking held earlier this year. The full proposal is scheduled for publication in the October 7 edition of the Idaho Administrative Bulletin.
The rulemaking implements legislation approved earlier this year that expanded the department’s authority to establishments offering hemp-derived products intended for human ingestion or inhalation. Nonviable hulled hemp seed, hemp seed protein powder and hemp seed oil are excluded.
The department’s latest publicly posted working draft would require businesses selling or distributing covered hemp products to obtain a retail hemp license. The definition of retailer would include physical stores as well as booths, farmers markets, wholesalers, online sellers, digital businesses and mobile operations.
Under the draft, each physical, online, digital or distribution location would need an individual license. The proposal lists a $100 annual application fee and a $1,000 annual retail license fee per site, with annual inspections included in the license cost.
Retailers would be subject to annual inspections, and the department could conduct additional random inspections during reasonable business hours. Regulators could also collect samples of products for laboratory testing and inspect physical and digital locations where hemp products are displayed, stored, sold or distributed.
The draft would require retailers to keep records of hemp product sales, acquisitions and transfers for three years, along with records involving the disposal or return of prohibited products.
Idaho continues to maintain one of the country’s strictest THC standards for finished hemp products. The department’s draft defines prohibited cannabis products as products containing THC, with limited exceptions related to hemp biomass, and says a retail sample with detectable THC would be considered a prohibited cannabis product.
The rulemaking follows House Bill 879, signed into law in April, which brought establishments selling hemp products for ingestion or inhalation under Idaho’s industrial hemp law and authorized the state to establish fees and penalties through rulemaking.
The October 6 public notice says a hearing has been scheduled on the proposal. Written comments are due October 28.
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