The President of the US Hemp Authority, Marielle WeinTraub joins Joy Beckerman to talk about the journey that led her to hemp and to her current leadership position. They also talk about the challenges they face creating the transparent framework necessary to guide the hemp industry into the future. Produced by PodCONX https://podconx.com/guests/marielle-weintraub
The President of the US Hemp Authority, Marielle WeinTraub joins Joy Beckerman to talk about the journey that led her to hemp and to her current leadership position. They also talk about the challenges they face creating the transparent framework necessary to guide the hemp industry into the future.
https://podconx.com/guests/marielle-weintraub
Dan Humiston: [00:00:08] Welcome to another episode of Hemp Barons, I'm Dan Humiston. And today, the president of the U.S. Hemp Authority joins Joy to talk about her Hemp journey and her responsibilities leading the association. It's helping to create the transparent framework that will guide the industry into the future. Let's join Joy's conversation with Marielle Weintraub.
Joy Beckerman: [00:00:39] Well, hello, Marielle. Thank you for being with us on Hemp Barons School.
Marielle Weintraub: [00:00:42] And thank you for having me.
Joy Beckerman: [00:00:44] Well, it's really our pleasure because I know what a crazy busy weaknesses for Franklins for all of us that the US has the authority and all of us in the Hemp, because last week, of course, the USDA dropped their rules, their final interim rules. And so I know how busy we are. So thank you very, very much. I want to talk today, Mario, about the U.S. Hemp authority and in full disclosure to our listeners. I'm the vice president of the US Hemp Authority of five or one trade association. Ms. Mario, you are the president of the US Hemp Society and a more we've met long prior to our service to that nonprofit group. That is where we have gotten the most of all of our work once again. And it's an honor and a pleasure to be able to roll up my sleeves with you and do the work done by the technical committees that create those and move it forward into creating really industry standards that will give safety and quality assurance confidence to consumers and to enforcement. As we unroll dietary supplements using cosmetics made and derived from the Hemp plant, whether they be grain or whether they be the extract with a valuable gone intoxicating cannabinoids. Before we get into your work in this new version 1.0. How did you come to this? How did you learn about the Hemp plant and were drawn to it?
Marielle Weintraub: [00:02:04] What's interesting is it seemed like I was on a random path, but that random path actually put me in the place I am now because I was working for Covanta, which is now your friends a dietary supplement and do testing lab. And I was really doing dietary supplements only covering Colorado and Utah. And one day I was on a dietary supplement event. Someone came up to me and said, can you test CBD products? And actually, I think he said, will you test CBD products? And mind you, I have a p_h_d_ in neuroscience. And I looked at him and said, What CBD? And that's when the conversation started. It was in 2016. We ended up speaking for hours. I was enthralled by the concepts. When I was in grad school, I had studied cognitive deficits and the effects of inflammation on cognitive deficits. And immediately I thought, I wonder if this could have worked when all the other drugs have not. I mean, I called my dad, who's a physician in interests, and I said, if you've heard of this and he said, I have heard of it, I don't know much about it, but I know I've got patients leaving Texas to move to Colorado. He happens to be a pediatrician. So I started to review it. I fell in love with the concept and the work that I had been able to find in the studies back from the 60s out of Israel. And I brought it to the attention of Covanta and Europeans. And in the beginning, it was an immediate no. And it took me a couple months and a couple of layers of lawyers to get them to finally agree to start testing CBD and Hemp products. And what we learned is we built a very large testing program that I think has helped a lot of groups. So between starting that program there and the Hemp authority, it's probably what I'm most proud of that I do in this Hemp industry.
Joy Beckerman: [00:03:46] I did not know that story. Sister will be hearing this.
Joy Beckerman: [00:03:51] Wow, what an inspiration. Just absolutely amazing. And I did know, however, that you're very much responsible for bringing Hemp into chauvins. And then Hogans, of course, was acquired by Europeans.
Joy Beckerman: [00:04:04] And we're so grateful for all of the testing facility, particularly the ones who are just very engaged in creating standards. And so, of course, we've become ISO certified in all of those things. But when your became involved in that product to another level, there's a tremendous credibility that European. GREENE Could you just explain to the listeners a little bit about the history of Europeans and what Europeans means basically in the food and dietary supplement state?
Marielle Weintraub: [00:04:32] Sure. So in the US, Kovaks is actually the bigger lab, which is why Europeans wanted to own them globally. Europeans started in France. They were the first to test and identify grapes for wine to show that people couldn't adulterate specific types of wines by using the wrong great type. So if you actually look at the name Europeans, the first instrument that Europeans was using was actually an infrared version of testing and Europeans and actually it was a sniff test is what it's called. SRN, I guess is the initials of the instrument. And so the owner that's euro sniff sounded terrible. So he named it Yoro Fence and it hasn't exploded in the United States as well as all over Europe. There's some very large labs in Germany and other countries, but they saw the good that Covanta had and the testing that Covanta was doing in the US and wanted to bring that into their already large testing group in the US. But it just allows them to cover almost every state in the United States for testing and different types of testing. So not all of them do dietary supplements. Or cannabinoids, they are very specialized or some only do pesticides, some are well known for doing genetic testing and so on and so forth, but it gives people the opportunity to work with a very well known and trusted name and it gives the Hemp industry a chance to have their testing done with a group that can really back the work they're doing. Any. It was even mentioned. I don't know if this is going to mess with your timing of USDA discussions, but even USDA mentioned the fact that you should be using ISO accredited labs that have validated their methods and your fans brings that kind of trust into this industry.
Joy Beckerman: [00:06:13] Absolutely. So not only on careful preparation and analytical methods and that whole sort of part of the technical operations of that cycle, sampling and analytical, but seeing around shelf stability testing and diet services.
Joy Beckerman: [00:06:28] So Europeans offer a tremendous amount of services with all of its years of experience to the industry. And that's really amazing. Let's move forward now to the U.S. Census already. So we've been having Hemp, particularly Hemp grain industries have been evolving. Hemp cosmetics have been evolving lousy for the 2014 farm bill and a few the United States has been and is to this day the largest importer of Hemp raw materials and manufactured goods in the world. So we have an industry here, but at the 2014 farm bill came along and created these agricultural pilot programs or allowed that have passed Hemp legislation to create agricultural pilot programs. And so the and then they Hemp track industry came around about that same time. As I often say on this show, you know, that strikes hit us like a ton of bricks about six years or so ago.
Joy Beckerman: [00:07:21] You know, we were oilseeds and fiber at all about the grain and the fiber and then Hemp the rise CVD came along. Right.
Joy Beckerman: [00:07:29] And now the 2018 farm bill has legalized Hemp as an agricultural commodity. But the thing is, it's a brand new industry. It's not just an agricultural industry. We're talking about industries that affect all aspects of humanity and human and animal rule. But if we drill in to what is human consumption mean, so we're talking dietary supplements and food and to some degree of that, it's just difficult when we knew that there needed to be standards, that it would take time for the FDA to come up with a regulatory framework or to fully accept and catch up with the new liberation of Hemp taking place in the broad light of day with all of the other agricultural commodities. And so the industry view is there. We're going to have trouble and bad actors may take the industry down if we don't have standards here. So the US Hemp roundtable, a 50 1 for advocacy organizations formed in Kentucky. And by the way, that is the advocacy partner of Hemp Industries Association, of which I'm the president founded in 1994. We could not be more pleased with the incredible, frankly, heroic and ongoing relentless work of the with the roundtable who funded the second organization, U.S. Health Authorities, not a member driven organization, a organization to create a third party independently verified certification program that would create a procedures and audit dramatic that would assure safety and quality assurance of these products derived from harm. I'm so proud of the fact that the version1.0 came out last year in November and several companies were certified. And now we're on version 2.0, which tell us from your perspective as president of the US Hemp Authority, how you first feel about the US Hemp authority, what it is that we do, what our goals are, and then we'll get into version 2.0 and those updates for everyone.
Marielle Weintraub: [00:09:29] Absolutely. So the U.S. embassy already was developed so that we could have an easy way for people to identify safe, legal and quality assured products. It started in 2016, as you said, when there was a group of the larger Hempton CBB companies that were afraid someone would have the risk of havlik from UNFPA likes to call a 60 Minutes moment where one group would bring down the entire industry. And you can actually see that today in stock market prices where we rise and we fall together. And what we didn't want to have happen was someone epically fail their consumer and bring down everybody else with them because we want people to have access to these products. So we created guidelines space on to the FDA to Drug and Cosmetic Act in 1.0 and have since very much so strengthened those regulations for 2.0. We have to remember that when we rolled out 1.0, we were the first and I believe only certification program and we're definitely still the one with. The third party audit. So there are other certifications out there, but unfortunately, a lot of those you fill out a form and you send it back in and they may or may not qualify or answers where we are specifically using third party independent auditors to make sure that the guidelines that we have set and now we expect them to be identical to that of the code of federal regulations, which is what the FDA follows. Or food and dietary supplements and cosmetics to to make sure that we're following those guidelines as well as the patchwork of state guidelines. We are also responsible for what we wanted to do was give everyone assurance that Hemp companies that are certified to be us Hemp authority deal are creating quality products that have been verified by an independent auditing company.
Joy Beckerman: [00:11:26] We're not talking about an audit over the phone or an audit on a form. Oh, no. We deploy.
Joy Beckerman: [00:11:32] Yes, physical inspections of these facilities take at least a full day and physical inspections of the farm for the growers who want to be certified. And thank you, of course, for making that distinction.
Joy Beckerman: [00:11:43] Marielle that while there are others and there sort of popping up by the day, it's kind of like they're a Hemp of those trade associations popping up and there are a certification program popping up or as I like to say so putting a symbol on their shack.
Marielle Weintraub: [00:11:57] But these are not real third party independent verified certification program. We've recognized folks out there that lawmakers and regulators need to be able to trust the certification. So say nothing unless it's actually a trusted seal. And a seal can only be trusted if there is a physical inspection from a third party independent survey to really reinforce that all of the requirements and obligations under those guidance procedures of the program are actually met. And so we're very excited to be able to deliver that not only to the many Hemp industries so that they have these systems to go by while the FDA continues to sort of spin its real time to create a regulatory framework. But also, again, for lawmakers, regulators, law enforcement, boots on the ground that when they see the U.S. Census already certified seal on products on the shelves, they can rest assured that it will force of legal Hemp compliant with currently the 2014 farm bill. And we've even had entire tools of retail stores contact us. And I think one that is actually being executed, an agreement with us because they only want to carry us. Hemp was already certified products on their shelves. Is that right?
Marielle Weintraub: [00:13:12] The one thing about retailers is they also have to follow very specific CFR as codes of federal regulation. And one of the regulations they have to follow is they have to. They have to have a form that's called a supplier verification program, because if they're going to trust to see ofdays of the companies, they are allowing to sell product in their store. The federal government wants to know that there is oversight over those companies. And so the retailers need a supplier verification program. The US Hemp authorities is the one that these retailers are trusting based on the fact that we did roll out 1.0 and we learned a lot from 1.0. We also saw where our gaps work and we went out of our way to fill those gaps and to make the program stronger and to reach out to more stakeholders across the industry. We had farmers, we had processors, we had retailers, we had brand owners. And what we wanted to make sure was that when 2.0 rolled out, it was much more refined from 1.0 and reflected several changes that were needing to take place based on either federal changes or based on consumer requests.
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Joy Beckerman: [00:15:42] So if we could, through sort of the five highlight of what has changed.
Joy Beckerman: [00:15:47] Would you want to explain or just sort of with those because they're pretty they're pretty big deal.
Marielle Weintraub: [00:15:53] Right. So one extra ones. I think there should be six. I think there are five listed. The first change is that before we had growers and we had manufacturers. And what we wanted to make sure was there is a large group of people now in this industry that are brand owners. So they white label their products. And what we wanted to make sure is that brand owners knew that they were responsible, just like manufacturers and growers are responsible for relevant FDA regulations. And we wanted to do this to make sure that product safety is the highest priority of everyone receiving the certification feel who is able to get it. After the audit. But we were very much making our processors, manufacturers and brand owners responsible for complying with all relevant FDA regulations as well as what we were doing the floor, which is you're at your state, federal or tribal regulations at the same time. There was a very large request for us to make sure that genetically engineered Hemp was prohibited from the program. So we won't allow genetically engineered products to be certified. And if you're gonna use genetically engineered non Hemp ingredients, you have to identify those on the products level. This is a little stronger than what the FDA has rolled out in their regulations, where they have made listing ingredients voluntary that are genetically modified. We have said that it is not voluntary. It is mandatory that you list those ingredients. We're not saying they can't be in your products, but we want the consumer to be able to choose the products that is best for him or for super quickly.
Joy Beckerman: [00:17:27] On that one bullet point, just to say that when the U.S. Census already reaches out across the country called stakeholder input for public comment. So not only did we, of course, create a technical committee from across multiple disciplines, basically the wide spectrum of disciplines, from labs to growers, processors, fiber, grain, dietary supplements, everything in between.
Joy Beckerman: [00:17:51] But also we reach out for public comment. And those periods last to 45 and 60 days of public comment periods. And we received over 2000 comments to get two versions 2.0. About seventeen hundred of them were generated from a sort of robo mail that an organization Hemp put out. And generally, historically, the Hemp Industry Association has worked very, very well with both. Hemp has done a lot of heavy lifting and is tremendous work getting legalization done along with these with these other groups. But it was fascinating in that in working with some of the folks from the Center for Food Safety and the folks who are quite related to vote, we were exploring the Jew or the genetic engineering issue. And of course, I was not at all for genetically engineered Hemp being included in our program. I was simply an opponent of it, as was everybody else. And in fact, I believe of the comments we received, we only got one comment and we didn't even have specific language to add. It just said that. I think for a proponent of GMO Hemp one comment out of all of them. But it was interesting because most Hemp sent out an e-mail saying that the Bond Santo's of the world through their proxies were lobbying with Hemp at 40 with some dark conspiracy to ensure that we would somehow allow genetically engineered Hemp. And this is just simply a figment of someone's utter imagination.
Joy Beckerman: [00:19:21] No such phone calls, no such communications in any way direct, indirect, through proxy or otherwise, through electronic, oral or written correspondence. We receive such labels. So that was fascinating.
Marielle Weintraub: [00:19:36] I appreciate that the email is generated and that people were taking such a hard stance, but I didn't appreciate the fact that the language had already been written and included and was available online when they decided to send that e-mail out, urging us to not allow genetically engineered have into our program. It's important to be able to make those calls and get people motivated and send emails. And it's unfortunate when it's use after the fact and when everyone's already in agreement.
Joy Beckerman: [00:20:03] Indeed. Indeed. So and to wrap up that point, we are all in agreement. Nobody except for the one random e-mail we got from the one random guy wants GMO Hemp to be certified right now. So it's not happening.
Marielle Weintraub: [00:20:15] And also along those lines, we're not allowing synthetic or bio synthetic CBD or any other synthetic or bio synthetic cannabinoid in the program. So those products will not be Hemp authority certified to also be as transparent as possible. We are demanding that that product labeling include country of origin where the Hemp was grown and to make our lives easier when we're discussing the different types of Hemp. Stitcher full spectrum isolate.
Marielle Weintraub: [00:20:42] We have defined terms for use in our labeling in the glossary section of our guidelines, and folks who want to use those terms on their label will need to match the definitions in that glossary. So instead of I wonder what this company means when they say broad spectrum and I wonder what this company means when they say full spectrum, if your new SMP authority certified and you're using those terms hoaxing, go to the glossary which are publicly available online. And that's what it will bring.
Marielle Weintraub: [00:21:11] So the the idea is to be as transparent as possible with all of your products, with all of your labeling, with our auditing and our guidelines and give people the power to choose which products they prefer.
Joy Beckerman: [00:21:25] Absolutely. And on top of the bio, synthetic and synthetic cannabinoids, of course, there are Cannabis mimetic phyto chemicals. And these are properties and plants that can affect either stimulate, antagonize or just otherwise modulate the Seabee receptor such as these properties. Cannabis mimetic phytochemicals insisted that the neisha inherent in black pepper. How you know a few of these other plants. And well, that's wonderful. If folks want to extract those plants for those Cannabis mimetic phytochemicals, those are not cannabinoids. Cannabinoids are derived from the genus Cannabis and in our case from Hemp that those Cannabis varieties that are legally defined as Hemp also those will not be certified. So we are only dealing with actual Hemp derived food, dietary supplements and cosmetics, whether that be valuable protein rich or omega rich green seed or whether that be cannabinoid and purply, which except from the Hemp Floro material.
Marielle Weintraub: [00:22:25] Right. And we've written a lot more farmers interested in the program. And so here we are rolling out 2.0 and I'm sure at some point we will roll out 3.0 and we realize there are gaps here. We need to add new regulations that are rolled out by the USDA and the FDA. So we do plan to continue to evolve the US Hemp Authority program as Hemp industry grows and as changes are needed. So please keep checking in with us with our website because what we also plan to do is to continue to take when we have new regulations or when we have new guidelines or changes, we do plan to also reach out again to stakeholders and industry members and we like to get those comments.
Marielle Weintraub: [00:23:05] It really does help us build much stronger program if we're working together reading those comments and these late night sessions and reviewing the work of the technical committee and all the things that we've done. It's amazing the contributions that are out there and the folks who have invested time in this program. It's really quite fantastic. Speaking of when we talk about how retailers want to just carry products that have the CEO, it's the same thing I'm learning with bankers and insurers as I am involved in different work groups. And, you know, it's a multitude of aspects of creating standards and policies on various aspects of these emerging Hemp industries. There are bankers that are like, hey, I want to know more about this program because I think that the folks who have earned the CEO would be a safer bet to loan money to. And the same thing with insured folks, whether in the field, whether they're farmers, processors, manufacturers of brand owners. If they weren't to seal, then they are a safer investment for our insurance coverage. It's really an important thing right now, especially for folks involved in these industries who are looking to get some type of CEO or hedge subsidy up to some type of organization. Don't invest in the wrong one. Really got to invest in a certification that lawmakers, regulators and law enforcement and retailers can truly trust. And there's only one that exists, and that's the US Hemp Authority CEO. And you can find out more information about it that US Hemp authority dot org, including the certified company. And is there anything to report with Marielle on our certified companies or where we're at with certified companies under the 1.0 guidance procedures?
Marielle Weintraub: [00:24:44] There are more than 30 companies that have been awarded c.l. What has always been the intent of the US authorities certification program is to have a yearly audit. So we are rolling out 2.0 and yes, every company that has the seal under 1.0 when it's time to renew their certification, seals will be going through the audit. It will be going through the 2.0 audit. And we will continue to keep this program as a yearly audit so that we have that quality assurance that we set out to gain from creating this program to begin with.
Joy Beckerman: [00:25:16] Absolutely. And I think, again, to maintain and earn that credibility with lawmakers, regulators, one fourth and others, especially while everything is rapidly developing, annual audits are absolutely required perhaps in the future when things are more established on state and federal levels. It may be that companies who scored over a certain score on their audit, perhaps they could have more. Yes, audit. The second time, instead of having the physical inspection. But we're talking some years out before the program would be able to consider those types of benefits for companies and farmers who have really shown long track records of compliance. Until then, again, if he wants to keep create credibility and that is the entire point of the field, the Thierer is only as strong as the obligations under it and the integrity of maintaining those obligations under it. It's going to be for sure an annual review. So Version 2.0 guidelines are up there on the Web site publicly available for everyone to see and grab just sort of us Hemp authority dot org and check out those guidelines so that you can see what is expected of you if you are in the Hemp dietary supplement food or cosmetics space. Again, whether that's grain, that very valuable nutrient dense feed or whether that's extract and cannabinoids and Turpin extracted from the floor materials, you want to know what is really expected of you clean.
Joy Beckerman: [00:26:44] So check out those guidelines come into compliance. You want to participate in anseo, which more and more we're developing and nurturing those relationships with Dankers, with insurers, with retail stores, get on board and look into enrolling into the program. We've made it very affordable, go through the audit process and for licensing fees with caps and so on and so forth for farmers and acreage and few numbers so that all companies of all sizes will be able to participate here. Happy for everybody. Mary, out working with you is a very high honor. We have another work session tonight, and I'm looking forward to it because you're just such a pleasure and you're so brilliant and so dedicated to this plan and dedicated to really responsibly creating industries and standards so that we can deliver on the promise of this incredible, versatile, valuable plant. It's an honor and a pleasure to work with you, sister. Thank you for everything you do for Hemp. And thank you for being with us today on Hemp Barons.
Marielle Weintraub: [00:27:41] I appreciate it. Thank you. Any time.
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