NEWS
| HIA NEWSWIRE A Service of the Hemp Industries Association For Immediate Release September 30, 1999 Drug Enforcement Agency Attacks Canadian Hemp Mogul Demands All Birdseed Be Recalled Pain Court, Ontario. The Industrial Hemp Industry faces its greatest legal challenge as a Southern Ontario hemp farmer fights for the right to export hemp materials to the United States. On August 9th, US Customs officials seized a truck carrying sterilized hemp seed grown at the Kenex farm near Chatham, Ontario. U.S. Customs and the DEA then demanded that Kenex, Canada's leading producer and processor of industrial hemp products, recall previous shipments of other hemp products such as oil, granola bars, horse bedding and animal feed. These actions were taken even though all of the products are clearly legal under the US CODE (TITLE 21, SECTION 802.16) and many have been sold in the U.S. for years. The effect of this action on the hemp industry is staggering, and it threatens Canadian farmers as well as American manufacturers. Kenex president, Jean Laprise says, "Kenex, along with many other U.S. companies, are suffering irreparable damages due to the illegal actions taken by the DEA and US Customs. It seems like the DEA could be spending the taxpayer's drug war money in better ways than chasing around after bird seed and horse bedding." U.S. Customs is threatening $500,000 in fines against Kenex if their granola bars, oil, animal feed and other products are not redelivered to Detroit Customs in the next few days. These fines are in addition to the fines and possible criminal charges that may be laid in relation to the birdseed load itself. A 30 day extension request to clarify the situation was denied by U.S. Customs. U.S. Companies stand to lose tens of millions of dollars or be forced out of business as a result of the DEA's actions. Canada is now the only source for sterilized hemp seeds and hemp seed oil in North America. Hemp industry leaders also claim that DEA is systematically trying to put the hemp birdseed industry out of business by harassing sterilizers whose services allow hemp seed to be legally imported to the U.S. Most recently, a seed sterilizer in New Jersey voluntarily relinquished their DEA license to handle hemp seed due to the extreme demands by DEA to police their clients and to complete voluminous amounts of paperwork. In 1994, there were 5 seed sterilizers in the United States; now there are none. "The DEA's action endangers the nascent Canadian hemp industry," said Hemp Industries Association president Cindy Biggers. "Canadian government and farmers have worked too hard getting hemp off the ground to let the US government mess things up." Kenex is now considering the possibility of filing a NAFTA case which would pit Health Canada against the US DEA. Jean Laprise says, "All the proper documentation has been supplied to Customs in the past in accordance with our custom broker's instructions. Kenex has always acted in good faith and has never violated any U.S. laws. Our legal counsel has advised us that the DEA and U.S. Customs are acting in clear violation of U.S. laws as well as NAFTA." Contacts: Mari Kane, Hemp Industries Association Press Director, Tel: 707- 887-7508, Email: mari@marikane.com C. Penn, HIA Secretary Tel: 707 874 3648 Email: info@thehia.org Websites: http://thehia.org & http://hempstores.com |