54 Investor Report Industrial Hemp Sector New Zealand ’ s New Export Opportunity 2020
8 . CONCLUSION : a massive opportunity for jobs and businesses in regional NZ
THE OPPORTUNITY
This report shows the unquestionable opportunity that industrial hemp offers to New Zealand , as evidenced by growing awareness of its benefits , substantial consumer demand and a US $ 26.6 billion ( NZ $ 40.7 billion ) industry in 2025 . ( 16 )
While an industrial hemp sector has developed recently in New Zealand , the regulatory framework is highly proscribed and if left unchanged will obstruct further development .
Legal liberalisation in various countries overseas provides a blueprint for New Zealand law makers in regard to a range of approaches to facilitate the hemp sector here .
NZ advisers to the government can also take comfort from the fact that not only have those members of the Single Convention on Narcotics who have liberalised their laws faced no penalties for so doing , but also the WHO expert committee has recommended to the UN that CBD is safe , and should not be included in an anti-narcotics convention .
In any new or amended regulatory framework , clarity around the status of a range of products containing CBD is essential .
At the moment the Ministry of Health will only acknowledge CBD products as medicine ( whether or not they do in fact meet the definition of a medicine ) or as a product in breach of the MoDA ( despite CBD having been descheduled from that Act in recognition of its non-psychoactive nature ).
This approach , which ignores low CBD nonmedicinal products , creates a maze which industry members are