New York Codes, Rules and Regulations
Title 1 - DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE AND MARKETS
Chapter III - Plant Industry
Subchapter F - Industrial Hemp
Part 159 - License to Grow and Research Hemp
Section 159.10 - Sampling for Acceptable Hemp THC Levels
Universal Citation: 1 NY Comp Codes Rules and Regs ยง 159.10
Current through Register Vol. 46, No. 12, March 20, 2024
(a) Sampling of Growers/Sampling Agents.
(i) As currently authorized under federal law
as an acceptable testing methodology for commercial growers, the Department or
sampling agents certified by the Department, shall collect samples from all
lots of the unharvested hemp plants of all growers to test for acceptable hemp
THC levels within 30 days of the proposed harvest date ("pre-harvest
sampling").
(ii) Should the
Department receive approval from the USDA to undertake performance-based
sampling of growers which would eliminate the requirement to test all lots of
all growers, the Department will seek to amend its grower sampling methodology
to provide for performance-based sampling, where appropriate.
(iii) Growers of hemp for research and
research institutions may, with the written approval of the Department, adopt
and carry out performance-based sampling.
(iv) Sampling for regulatory testing for
acceptable hemp THC levels shall be conducted either by Department inspectors
or sampling agents approved by the Department.
(v) Sampling agents shall be trained and
certified by the Department.
(vi)
An applicant for State certification to sample hemp shall apply upon a form
prepared by the Department, which application shall require a current criminal
history report issued no more than 60 days prior to submission of the
application to sample hemp.
(vii)
The Department shall maintain and post a list of certified sampling agents on
its website.
(viii) Should the
Department be required to provide sampling services, the grower shall pay a
sampling fee equal to the actual cost of procuring the sample, mailing, or
delivering the sample to the lab, and performing the laboratory analysis for
each lot sampled by the Department.
(ix) The cost of sampling by a
Department-certified sampler will be determined by agreement between the
sampling agent and the grower.
(b) Procedures for obtaining pre-harvest regulatory sampling.
(i) The grower, using
the Department's pre-harvest report form, shall notify the Department of the
anticipated date for the harvest of its hemp crop and the number of lots to be
harvested. The preharvest report form shall be delivered to Department so that
it arrives no less than 30 days before the anticipated harvest date.
(ii) The grower shall notify the Department
in writing of any anticipated delay to the proposed date of harvest, which
shall extend the time to complete the regulatory sampling by the number of days
of the commencement of the harvest is delayed. If the harvest is delayed beyond
30 days after a sample has been taken, a new sample must be taken and tested
prior to harvest.
(iii) Pre-harvest
sampling shall only be conducted by the Department or a Department-certified
sampling agent. Plant material sampling by the grower or the grower's agent
does not satisfy preharvest regulatory testing requirements and the plant
material generated by the grower's sampling shall not be used for the
Department's regulatory testing sampling.
(iv) The grower shall not harvest its hemp
until a Department inspector, or a Department-certified sampling agent, has
completed the pre-harvest sampling of the grower's hemp or until the grower has
received written approval to harvest from the Department.
(v) Harvested hemp shall remain in the
possession and control of the grower and not sold unless the testing required
by this Part demonstrates that the lot of harvested hemp meets the acceptable
hemp THC level and, accordingly, may enter the stream of commerce.
(c) Sampling of the hemp crop.
(i) The Department and the sampling agents
shall be provided with complete and unrestricted access to the grower's
premises during business hours, to all hemp and other hemp plants and plant
parts, whether growing or harvested, and all land, buildings and other
structures used for the cultivation, handling, and storage of all hemp and
cannabis and all locations listed in the grower's license.
(ii) If requested by the Department, the
grower shall provide an authorized representative of the grower to be present
for the scheduled sampling.
(iii)
The Department's inspectors or Department-certified sampling agents shall
sample the parts of unharvested hemp plants using a sampling method that is
sufficient, at a confidence level of 95 percent, to conclude that no more than
one percent of the plants in the lot exceed the acceptable hemp THC level or
such other sampling method that the Department believes appropriate to ensure
that the hemp produced by the grower does not exceed the acceptable hemp THC
level.
(iv) The Department or
Department-certified sampling agents shall sample hemp grown using a sampling
protocol published by the Department and posted on the Department
website.
(v) The sampling protocol
may be amended from time to time, at the Department's discretion, provided that
the amended protocol is posted on the Department's website, and shall go into
effect for the following year's growing season.
(vi) Samples of the cultivated hemp for the
Department's regulatory testing shall be obtained from the flowering tops of
plants when flowering tops are present and shall be approximately five to eight
inches in length from the "main stem" (including the leaves and flowers),
"terminal bud" (that occurs at the end of a stem), or "central cola" (cut stem
that could develop into a bud) of the flowering top of the plant.
(vii) Samples of hemp plant material from one
lot shall not be comingled with hemp plant material from other lots.
Disclaimer: These regulations may not be the most recent version. New York may have more current or accurate information. We make no warranties or guarantees about the accuracy, completeness, or adequacy of the information contained on this site or the information linked to on the state site. Please check official sources.
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