In a memo earlier in March, the US Postal Service (USPS) noted that hemp-derived CBD is mailable under specific conditions. Currently, USPS policies will follow the provisions of the 2014 Farm Bill. USPS will loosen restrictions in accordance with the 2018 Farm Bill once the US Department of Agriculture has implemented its regulatory framework for hemp. Disputes have arisen over the mailability of CBD in the last year, which may have led to the USPS clarifying its policy. The USPS implies it issued the memo due to inquiries about the legality of mailing CBD.
USPS Outline Conditions For Mailing Hemp-Derived CBD
The United States Postal Service (USPS) released a memo detailing its acceptance criteria for mailing hemp-derived CBD.
This was first reported by Kight on Cannabis, the blog of Rod Kight, an attorney who represents cannabis businesses.
The memo says all mailers of CBD will have to provide the following documentation:
- A signed self-certification statement,
- the industrial hemp producer’s license issued by the department of agriculture of the relevant state, and
- a lab test showing the products/items mailed contain no more than 0.3% THC.
The USPS forewarns its employees that the passing of the 2018 Farm Bill will bring future changes to these restrictions.
However, the USPS will wait to update the criteria until that legislation “is fully implemented.”
The US Department of Agriculture is overseeing the implementation of the regulatory framework for hemp. The Agriculture Secretary, Sonny Perdue, said he believes hemp regulations will be ready for the 2020 growing season; thus, it would be reasonable to expect the USPS to update its policy around that time as well.
The memo comes on the heels of legal disputes involving the USPS about the mailability of CBD in 2018.
In January 2018, the USPS seized packages coming from Wildflower Inc., which contained CBD products. USPS determined the packages contained “marijuana” and notified the recipients.
One of the recipients appealed the determination of “nonmailability” but lost since the CBD product came from a marijuana plant.
However, a second dispute went against the USPS.
Again in January, the USPS seized a package from KaB, LLC that had the “odor of a controlled substance” and determined it was nonmailable.
KaB, LLC, which holds an Industrial Hemp Registration with the Colorado Department of Agriculture, appealed the determination.
The product was CBD isolate, which tested under the 0.3% THC limit. A test on the industrial hemp crop the isolate came from also tested within the legal THC limit.
The USPS argued that the ruling in the former dispute made all CBD nonmailable; however, Chief Administrative Law Judge James G. Gilbert, who also made the ruling in the first appeal, ruled the package was mailable since the product was made from legal industrial hemp.
Making no mention of the disputes in its memo, the USPS implies it released the acceptance criteria because of “an increasing number of requests to transport CBD oil and products containing CBD in Postal Service networks.”
