Page 7 - Food&Drink September 2019

Federal government cuts cannabis red tape
THE federal government is attempting to reduce the red tape and speed up the granting of licences for medicinal cannabis. Health minister
Greg Hunt said the federal government would boost the nation’s medicinal cannabis industry by prioritising projects that have been granted major project status (MPS).
Hunt said projects that will make a “significant contribution in the areas of exports, jobs and industry development, particularly in rural and regional areas” will be classified as an MPS. The prioritisation will start on 1 September.
So far the government
has granted 69 licences
to cultivate, produce or manufacture medicinal cannabis: 24 for cultivation of
cannabis for medicinal use; 16 for cultivation for research; and 23 for manufacture of medicinal cannabis products.
Minister for industry, science and technology, Karen Andrews said: “The projects will still have to meet all of the approvals required, but this arrangement will make sure that they are not being held up by unnecessary delays.”
GOVERNMENT AGREES TO NARCOTICS ACT REVIEW RECOMMENDATIONS
A review of the Narcotics Drugs Act 1967 has recently been completed, with 26 recommendations made by independent chair Professor John McMillan. McMillan recommends congestion reducing initiatives for medicinal cannabis cultivation
and manufacturing to apply to the whole sector. Hunt said the Government has agreed in principle to adopt all 26 recommendations.
Two proposed changes would simplify the administration of the medicinal cannabis scheme and remove impediments to developing the Australian medicinal cannabis industry.
Changes to the Narcotic Drugs Regulation 2016 will reduce the regulatory burden on licence applicants, and reduce the time it takes
to apply and what level
of detail is required.
As of 30 June 2019, more than 10,000 prescriptions have been written in Australia for medicinal cannabis products.
NEWS
Navigating industry and research ethics
RESEARCHERS from the universities of Queensland and Cambridge are exploring ways to best manage food industry involvement in diet and health research, as well as better protect scientists’ work from industry influence.
The study found “high levels of agreement” among researchers and stakeholders to design principles that prevent or manage conflicts of interest, while “more contentious principles” were those requiring value-based decision-making, such as determining which organisations in the food sector are acceptable to interact with.
UQ School of Public Health nutrition expert Dr Katherine Cullerton said: “Companies in the food industry want to influence food and public health policy in their favour. Some researchers are unaware that they are susceptible to conflicts of interest or that they might be at risk of
unconscious biases adversely affecting their science.
“Ultimately, all of these factors represent significant reputational risks for researchers.”
In the final stage of this research, Cullerton and her colleagues in Cambridge will develop internationally- agreed guidelines and a toolkit for researchers to better manage the risks resulting from interacting with the food industry.
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