On October 31, 2019, the Georgia Department of Agriculture (“GDA”) released a newsletter on Georgia Composing Plan to Comply with Federal and State Hemp Guidelines. The newsletter follows the release of the United States Department of Agriculture Interim Rules on the U.S. Hemp Production Program published to the Federal Register on October 31, 2019.

In this newsletter, GDA states that it submitted its plan to the USDA on July 10, 2019, and is “currently reviewing the USDA proposed rule to amend the Georgia plan to comply with the federal rule.” When the USDA approves the Georgia plan, GDA will propose a final rule that will comply with the USDA Rules and the Georgia Hemp Farming Act. There will be a 30-day comment period on the proposed final rules. Following the close of this comment period, “and barring any unforeseen circumstances, Georgia’s rule will be finalized after posting final notice for 20 days with the Georgia Secretary of State.”

We recently reported that Georgia entered the hemp industry on May 10, 2019, when Governor Kemp signed the Georgia Hemp Farming Act following the Enactment of the 2018 Farm Bill. In July, we reported on GDA’s Notice of Intent to Consider the Adoption of Hemp Growers and Processors Rules and proposed Hemp Rules.