Zimbabwe sets permits and testing rules for hemp growers and traders

Zimbabwe published detailed hemp-growing and trading rules on 18 September 2020. The Agricultural Marketing Authority could issue separate permits for growers, researchers and merchants, with approved varieties, security checks and crop records. The rules gave the industry a defined system for moving hemp from seed to harvest and trade.

Approved farmers already had permission to grow

The 2019 authorisation allowed farmers approved by the agriculture minister, and the state on its own farms, to acquire, possess and supply industrial hemp. Growing had to occur on approved farms.

The new regulations supplied much more detail about applications, production and supervision. They used a hemp definition of no more than 0.3% delta-9 THC by dry weight.

Applicants had to provide cultivation plans and coordinates, information about responsible personnel, security clearances and a proposed record-keeping system. Separate cultivation areas required separate applications.

Three permits covered different activities

A general cultivator’s permit authorised growing approved varieties, processing the crop for marketing and selling the produce. A research and breeding permit allowed specified work with new varieties under approved research supervision.

A merchant’s permit covered activities such as procurement, supply, processing and contracting farmers. This gave businesses handling the crop a route distinct from the grower’s permit.

General cultivation and merchant permits lasted one year. Research and breeding permits lasted three, with renewal procedures for each. The original fees included US$200 for a cultivation or research application and US$500 for a merchant application.

Farmers had to document and test the crop

The rules required registers covering seed, cultivation and harvest. Growers had to record planting, varieties, quantities, destruction and supply, including who received the material and the relevant permit details.

Reports followed the crop through the season, including a pre-harvest report and sampling. Authorities could inspect and test hemp, with procedures addressing adverse results and destruction. The regulations also covered labels, transport and import or export applications.

These requirements made compliance an ongoing part of producing and marketing hemp, extending beyond the initial permit.

A broader criminal definition came in 2023

The 2023 criminal-code amendment defined industrial hemp at up to 1% delta-9 THC by dry weight. It changed the code’s dangerous-drug definition for cannabis plants and added a rule about proving that material was cannabis rather than hemp.

The 2020 text governed agricultural permits and used its own 0.3% definition. Reading both changes explains the separate roles of criminal classification and agricultural permission in Zimbabwe’s hemp industry.^[1][2][3]