The Canadian Hemp Trade Alliance (CHTA) represents Canadian farmers, processors, manufacturers, researchers, entrepreneurs, and marketers involved in Canada’s hemp industry as well as some international members. Its goal is to share information and promote the use of nutritional and industrial hemp products as well as to coordinate research.
 

Although hemp is the same plant as cannabis, it contains more CBD and less tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) in its flowering heads and leaves. THC is the compound that causes the “high” that people associate with cannabis. One of the challenges the hemp industry has faced is that all cannabinoids in the cannabis plant, including CBD and THC, have been regulated the same way.
 

This means that any CBD-containing products may only be accessed the same way as cannabis products. This has created more cost, encumbering the competitiveness of this agricultural crop.
 

SCC worked with CHTA to develop industry-wide grading standards so that Canadian hemp products could be recognized globally for their quality and consistency. SCC also worked with CHTA to request that ASTM’s D37 cannabis committee and its subcommittees clearly respect differences between hemp and high-THC cannabis by facilitating the development of hemp-specific terminology, standards, guides, and hemp-specific test methods.
 

To date, CHTA has worked with ASTM to develop standards for assessing spoilage and sampling of hemp seed intended for human consumption. It is also developing standards for hemp seed intended for dehulling or oil extraction for food purposes and guides for issues such as storing whole hemp seed, growing hemp intended for fibre production, and storing hemp chaff intended for cannabinoid extraction.