Regulation Minister David Seymour has announced changes to loosen New Zealand’s hemp industry laws.
Seymour described the current licensing rules as heavy-handed and outdated, vowing to replace them with new ones.
Industrial hemp growers with plants under 1% THC would no longer need a licence. He said industrial hemp contains very low THC levels and requires far less regulation than cannabis.
Under the proposed reforms:
- Licensed medicinal cannabis producers could supply hemp biomass, including flowers and leaves, under strict controls.
- Growers must alert police prior to planting to avoid mistaken enforcement and combat illegal cannabis. The MPI should also be notified.
- Hemp use stays limited to fibre, seed, and oil, plus approved medicinal cannabis supply.
- Current food safety and medicinal cannabis rules will remain in force.
“The industry has been held back by outdated, heavy-handed rules that treat growing low-risk crops like high-risk drugs. That ends now,” Seymour said.
He said pointless red tape has cost growers dearly and stifled innovation. The changes are also expected to deliver $7.5 million in benefits over 10 years, rising to $41 million over 20 years.
Seymour explained that industrial hemp contains low THC levels and is grown for food, oil, fibre, and health products—yet has faced heavy regulation despite its low risk.
He cited this as an example of why New Zealand needs the Regulatory Standards Act.
“If the Act was in place at the time these regulations were made, you would be able to see the low risks the crazy regulations were in place to ‘mitigate’.
“So far though, the disproportionately high costs of regulating the use and exchange of industrial hemp have been hidden.”