Subsonic Chronic
TRIBE Member
Well... if NAFTA was good for anything, this has gotta be it. Hopefully the DEA will realise what a bunch of tards they are and reverse the ban. It's so beyond any sort of rational logic.
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From the Toronto Star:
Ontario hemp producer files NAFTA challenge
U.S. crackdown on hemp products costs firm millions, president complains
From Canadian Press
A small Ontario company is using the North American Free Trade Agreement to challenge a U.S. crackdown on products made from industrial hemp, a close relative of the plant that produces marijuana.
Canada has allowed commercial farming of hemp since 1998. But the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency has ordered any food containing the substance off store shelves by Feb. 6.
That has caused Kenex Ltd., a privately held industrial hemp producer near the southwestern Ontario city of Chatham, to notify the U.S. government on Monday that it's seeking at least $20 million as compensation for lost business.
Kenex argues its products - mainly birdseed and edible oils used in a variety of foods such as tortilla chips, granola bars and ice cream - are free of THC, or tetrahydrocannabinol, the illegal hallucinogen in marijuana.
Under NAFTA procedure, the company's lawyers will try to negotiate with U.S. officials. If negotiations fail, the company can ask for an independent tribunal to award it compensation for lost business.
"The point of this whole exercise is that we've lost a significant amount of money related to the U.S. government's actions in this industry," said Kenex president Jean Laprise.
"It's cost us millions of dollars and we're looking for some compensation with regard to those losses."
For instance, Kenex lost its largest customer a couple years ago when U.S. officials seized a 22-tonne truckload of birdseed at the border, Laprise said.
"We haven't dealt with that customer since. That was the end of it. People don't take too kindly to butting heads with the U.S. government, so they just choose to stay away," Laprise said.
Kenex argues the U.S. crackdown is arbitrary and creates an unfair barrier for hemp, compared with directly competitive products such as flax, walnut, sesame and poppy seeds.
"Poppy seeds, in particular, are in a very similar position to hemp seeds, insofar as poppy seeds contain trace amounts of opiates that are controlled by the Controlled Substances Act in the U.S. but are specifically exempted from control along with their trace opiates," says the company's notice of intent, filed with the State Department.
Todd Weiler, one of the lawyers working for Kenex, said the main thrust of the claim rests on NAFTA Article 1105, guaranteeing fair and equitable treatment, and Article 1102, which guarantees that U.S. law must treat Canadian, Mexican and American competitors equally.
In this case, Kenex argues Canadian hemp growers aren't treated as well as U.S. poppy seed producers, Weiler said.
The Hemp Industry Association, representing U.S. industrial hemp producers, recently filed a lawsuit making similar allegations against the Drug Enforcement Administration in a San Francisco court.
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From the Toronto Star:
Ontario hemp producer files NAFTA challenge
U.S. crackdown on hemp products costs firm millions, president complains
From Canadian Press
A small Ontario company is using the North American Free Trade Agreement to challenge a U.S. crackdown on products made from industrial hemp, a close relative of the plant that produces marijuana.
Canada has allowed commercial farming of hemp since 1998. But the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency has ordered any food containing the substance off store shelves by Feb. 6.
That has caused Kenex Ltd., a privately held industrial hemp producer near the southwestern Ontario city of Chatham, to notify the U.S. government on Monday that it's seeking at least $20 million as compensation for lost business.
Kenex argues its products - mainly birdseed and edible oils used in a variety of foods such as tortilla chips, granola bars and ice cream - are free of THC, or tetrahydrocannabinol, the illegal hallucinogen in marijuana.
Under NAFTA procedure, the company's lawyers will try to negotiate with U.S. officials. If negotiations fail, the company can ask for an independent tribunal to award it compensation for lost business.
"The point of this whole exercise is that we've lost a significant amount of money related to the U.S. government's actions in this industry," said Kenex president Jean Laprise.
"It's cost us millions of dollars and we're looking for some compensation with regard to those losses."
For instance, Kenex lost its largest customer a couple years ago when U.S. officials seized a 22-tonne truckload of birdseed at the border, Laprise said.
"We haven't dealt with that customer since. That was the end of it. People don't take too kindly to butting heads with the U.S. government, so they just choose to stay away," Laprise said.
Kenex argues the U.S. crackdown is arbitrary and creates an unfair barrier for hemp, compared with directly competitive products such as flax, walnut, sesame and poppy seeds.
"Poppy seeds, in particular, are in a very similar position to hemp seeds, insofar as poppy seeds contain trace amounts of opiates that are controlled by the Controlled Substances Act in the U.S. but are specifically exempted from control along with their trace opiates," says the company's notice of intent, filed with the State Department.
Todd Weiler, one of the lawyers working for Kenex, said the main thrust of the claim rests on NAFTA Article 1105, guaranteeing fair and equitable treatment, and Article 1102, which guarantees that U.S. law must treat Canadian, Mexican and American competitors equally.
In this case, Kenex argues Canadian hemp growers aren't treated as well as U.S. poppy seed producers, Weiler said.
The Hemp Industry Association, representing U.S. industrial hemp producers, recently filed a lawsuit making similar allegations against the Drug Enforcement Administration in a San Francisco court.
