A new trade association is being launched in the UK, following an extensive six-month consultation with key stakeholders since the release of a ”landmark” report dubbed “CBD in the UK”.
The venture, which will be named Association for the Cannabinoid Industry (ACI), is a platform which brings together leading businesses and experts committed to fostering a legally compliant, socially responsible and innovative CBD industry, putting customers’ safety first.
The association, an initiative led by the Centre for Medicinal Cannabis (CMC), has been undertaking a “wide-ranging” review of the UK CBD sector over the course of the past six months. The review allegedly included commissioning the most comprehensive market sizing exercise, a product testing review with The Times and the first ever opinion poll to establish public attitudes to the CBD market and its products.
Dr Parveen Bhatarah, regulatory and compliance lead, CMC commented that it is “imperative” for the industry to have a “robust, standard analytical testing method”.
Dr Parveen continued, “Any company in this space will no doubt have faced a number of problems when analysing cannabis products. If there is no standardisation, there is no recourse for companies or customers to question test results. The lack of standardisation is hurting the industry’s ability to present cogent arguments on key matters such as defining ‘zero-detectable THC’; the CMC’s efforts in addressing this broad-ranging subject is significant for the industry to move forward.”
The association is needed now that cannabidiol, known more commonly as CBD, has seen a notable rise in consumer demand in recent years, leading to an influx of products available largely online. According to a study by the Centre for Medicinal Cannabis (CMC), the UK CBD market was shown to be worth £300m currently, and its double-digit growth each year has led to market value expectations of almost £1 billion by 2025.
