Vol. 1, Ed. 61 — Tue Oct 13: North Carolina braces for federal hemp THC limits

North Carolina’s $3 billion hemp industry prepares for the Nov. 12 and Dec. 11 federal THC limits; the Distilled Spirits Council asks the administration to drop the remaining 10% tariff on EU cognac and liqueurs; Washington opens comments on its medical-market certification rule. For general information only — not legal advice.

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The NRBC Compliance Brief is a daily two-minute audio briefing on U.S. alcohol and hemp/THC regulation, covering federal agencies and all 50 states: TTB rulings and rulemaking, state alcohol authority actions, the federal hemp-ban timeline, THC-beverage rules, court decisions, taxes, tariffs, licensing, and enforcement. A new episode arrives every morning around 7 AM Eastern.

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This is the New Realm Compliance Brief, Volume One, Edition Sixty-One, for Tuesday, October Thirteenth.

Our top story: North Carolina's three billion dollar hemp industry is preparing for the federal THC limits now weeks away. The rules Congress enacted last year arrive in two steps. On November twelfth, products containing cannabinoids the cannabis plant cannot naturally produce fall outside the federal hemp definition. And on December eleventh, only hemp products with no more than four tenths of a milligram of total THC per container remain lawful. North Carolina's industry supports about sixteen thousand jobs, and a Raleigh Dispensaries review found that seventy-nine of eighty-two tracked shops carry at least one affected product category. The state Senate has passed a backstop bill matching the federal limit. House Speaker Destin Hall said the House may revisit the issue after the November elections, and Governor Josh Stein's advisory council on cannabis is due to deliver recommendations by the end of the year.

On the federal side, the Distilled Spirits Council is asking the administration to drop the remaining ten percent tariff on European cognac and liqueurs. Council president Chris Swonger said, we're not widgets, we're distinctive products. The administration has already removed its tariffs on Scotch whisky and Irish whiskey over the past year.

Around the states: Washington's Liquor and Cannabis Board is taking public comment through December fourth on a certification rule that would document licensees' medical market participation for federal registration, banking and insurance. And in Puerto Rico, Governor Jenniffer Gonzalez Colon signed a law creating exceptions to employment protections for medical cannabis patients who perform sensitive transportation work, including truck drivers.

On the radar: Election Day is November third, when Massachusetts votes on Question Eight, which would end licensed adult-use retail cannabis sales. And November thirteenth is the day New Jersey moves hemp beverage sales exclusively into its cannabis license system.

Full details and source links are in today's email. This update is for general information only — it is not legal advice.