Implications of the August 17, 2026 Government Post-Hearing Brief for Federal Hemp Policy and the Goodness of Hemp Act
Congress has given the industry more time. Now we must use it to unite around one comprehensive federal framework that protects consumers, supports American agriculture and creates a durable future for hemp.
The Goodness of Hemp Act is a proposed federal policy framework. It has not yet been introduced as legislation.
The federal hemp debate entered a new phase this week. On September 1, the U.S. House voted 370–48 to concur in the Senate amendments to H.R. 6500, the Continuing Appropriations and Extensions Act, 2027. President Trump signed the measure into law on September 2.
For hemp, the new law provides a short but important window. Most of the federal hemp restrictions scheduled to take effect on November 12 are now delayed until December 11, 2026. The November 12 date remains in place for products containing cannabinoids that are not capable of being naturally produced by the Cannabis sativa L. plant.
This should not be viewed as a victory for one segment of the hemp industry. It should be viewed as an opportunity for the entire American hemp industry.
Congress has provided additional time. The question now is what we do with it.
Congress has provided time to develop a better answer. Now the hemp industry has an obligation to give Congress one.
The Debate Is Changing
For too long, the national conversation about hemp has been dominated by intoxicating products, gummies, beverages and the unintended consequences of the 2018 Farm Bill.
Those issues must be addressed. Products that endanger consumers, irresponsible marketing, sales to minors, and synthetic or chemically converted products that evade appropriate safeguards have no place in a responsible hemp marketplace.
But they are not the whole hemp industry.
Hemp is also an American agricultural commodity producing fiber, grain, food, feed, building materials, textiles, biocomposites, animal bedding, ingredients and an expanding range of manufactured products. It also includes naturally occurring, non-impairing cannabinoids that deserve an appropriate, science-based federal regulatory pathway.
Several Legislative Paths Are Now on the Table
Congress now has several proposals before it addressing different pieces of this challenge:
- The Lawful Hemp Protection Act, H.R. 9830, introduced by Representatives Andy Barr and Angie Craig, proposes a broad federal framework for hemp-derived consumer products. Its provisions include separate treatment for industrial hemp, consumer protections, restrictions on synthetic cannabinoids and federal oversight of consumable products.
- The Hemp Enforcement, Modernization, and Protection Act, H.R. 7212, introduced by Representatives Morgan Griffith and Marc Veasey, would create an FDA regulatory framework for cannabinoid hemp products intended for human use. The legislation directs FDA to undertake rulemaking on cannabinoid limits and other federal guardrails. Congressman Griffith has specifically pointed to the new December window as an opportunity for the White House, lawmakers and stakeholders to build collective support around a workable regulatory approach.
- The Beverage Regulatory Parity Act, H.R. 10079, introduced by Representatives Beth Van Duyne and Greg Landsman, focuses specifically on hemp-derived beverages and proposes a federal regulatory structure modeled in part on the alcohol beverage system.
We welcome the growing recognition across Congress that prohibition alone is not a durable answer. Each of these proposals contributes important ideas to the discussion.
But America does not need separate solutions that protect individual pieces of the same plant while leaving others behind.
We need one workable national framework.
Farmers Cannot Be an Afterthought
The National Hemp Association and the Goodness of Hemp initiative believe any lasting solution must begin where hemp begins: with the farmer.
Federal policy must clearly distinguish traditional industrial hemp grown for fiber, grain, seed and other agricultural purposes from cannabinoid production and finished intoxicating consumer products.
American farmers producing legitimate agricultural commodities should not carry regulatory burdens created by products they did not manufacture and markets in which they do not participate.
Likewise, Congress should examine the growing role of imported cannabinoid ingredients and concentrates. American farmers and manufacturers should not be subjected to increasingly stringent requirements while foreign-produced cannabinoid inputs of uncertain origin, production methods or composition enter the American marketplace.
Consumer protection, domestic manufacturing and support for American agriculture should go hand in hand.
Regulation, Not Prohibition
There is considerable common ground emerging. Responsible participants across the hemp industry increasingly agree on basic principles that can form the foundation of a durable federal solution:
- Protect children and establish appropriate age restrictions.
- Eliminate dangerous synthetic and chemically converted intoxicating cannabinoids.
- Establish meaningful testing, labeling, packaging and manufacturing standards.
- Create appropriate federal oversight for adult hemp beverages.
- Establish a workable FDA pathway for non-intoxicating, naturally occurring cannabinoids.
- Protect industrial hemp farmers producing fiber, grain and seed.
- Support domestic production and greater transparency regarding imported cannabinoid ingredients.
- Expand legitimate markets for hemp in food, feed, construction, textiles, manufacturing and other applications.
These principles are at the heart of the Goodness of Hemp® Act.
The objective is not to protect every product currently calling itself “hemp.” The objective is to protect consumers while building a legitimate, durable American hemp industry.
December 11 Is Not Far Away
The extension Congress has provided is short. The next three months cannot become another period in which individual sectors retreat to their respective corners and advocate only for themselves.
Beverage companies need farmers. Cannabinoid companies need responsible federal regulation. Fiber and grain producers need markets. Manufacturers need reliable domestic supply chains. Consumers need confidence in what they are purchasing. Congress needs an industry capable of bringing forward a solution rather than another fight.
That is why NHA and the Goodness of Hemp initiative believe the time has come to bring the principal congressional offices, relevant federal agencies and representatives of the major sectors of the hemp industry together with a specific objective:
Develop a comprehensive, bipartisan and workable federal hemp framework before December 11.
We have been given additional time. Let’s not spend it fighting over who gets protected. Let’s use it to build the American hemp industry Congress envisioned when it began this journey more than a decade ago.
ONE PLANT. MANY INDUSTRIES. ONE COMPREHENSIVE SOLUTION.
Smart rules. American agriculture. Consumer protection. A future for hemp.
Policy references: H.R. 6500, Continuing Appropriations and Extensions Act, 2027; H.R. 9830, Lawful Hemp Protection Act; H.R. 7212, Hemp Enforcement, Modernization, and Protection Act; and H.R. 10079, Beverage Regulatory Parity Act. Bill information and congressional materials current as of September 6, 2026