Governor Abbott signed HB 1325 into law the other day. With that comes the state legalization of hemp-derived CBD products and the ability for farmers to grow hemp (the state still needs to develop their guidelines/monitoring program).

https://www.dallasnews.com/news/texas-le...-products-texas

Our understanding is that the 2018 Farm Bill defined hemp as cannabis under 0.3% THC and legalized it at the federal level which removes any FinCEN filing implications (unless of course the customer/transactions shift into MRB territory).

We're in the planning phase of what our hemp customer onboarding and monitoring program will look like as a bank. Anyone working through the same thing or have something in-place already that they would be willing to share? As of now, we are looking at requiring state licensing, source of materials/seeds, ultimate use of the product, and independent (verifiable) laboratory testing of their products/crop (meeting the TBD testing requirements for the state of Texas).

We are in the same phase starting today.

We purchased the IBAT webinar on the Hemp Farming Act and it was very informative and comes with some good handouts.

Essentially, since Texas didn't participate in the pilot program under the 2014 Farm Bill, farmers must wait until the final rules are provided by the UDSA and the Texas Dept of Agriculture. The final rule is expected in Fall of 2019 and TDoA will then submit their plans for the state program. This will include all the guidelines for licensing and monitoring and will be in effect for the 2020 growing season. There is no way for farmers to be begin legally growing the product in Texas until next year's growing season. The Texas law goes into effect Sep 1, 2019.

https://www.texasagriculture.gov/RegulatoryPrograms/Hemp.aspx

As for CBD products, they will be regulated by the Texas Dept of State Health Services. Their guidelines for licensing and monitoring will be implemented alongside the TDoA program. Existing retailers are allowed to sell CBD products at this time as long as they meet the guidelines in HB 1325.

SARs are where I need to conduct more research. One of the answers in the webinar Q&A implies that a SAR would need to be filed on businesses that are selling edible CBD products since there has been no guidance at the Federal level from the FDA permitting it. It also isn't currently legal to sell CBD products obtained from out-of-state (again, due to lack of final ruling). There were no CBD products legally produced in Texas before now meaning we would have to file on any retailers offering the products. Seems to be another issue where federal and state rules don't quite line up yet.

https://www.dshs.texas.gov/consumerprotection/hemp-program/default.aspx
https://www.fda.gov/news-events/fda-voic...ased-policy-cbd

We have customers in other states where they could be eligible to begin farming hemp. Since Texas has no guidelines yet, we will be holding them to the standards set forth by their state. Not sure if there would be a reason to require them to conform to Texas rules (assuming they're more strict) once released.