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Feb. 12, 2025
In this issue:
- Introduction
- Registration to license conversion
- Batch testing requirements
- Selling clones
- Website resources
Welcome!
As we continue sharing information regularly, we understand that questions will naturally arise. In our first Cannabis Compliance Connector of 2025, we’re diving deeper on previous topics as well as covering new ones. This issue will cover batch testing, selling clones and expand on the registration conversion process.
Registration to license conversion
Conversion provides a registered business with a path to licensure which allows them to continue operating during the transition to regulations under Chapter 342 and the license application process.
This is a refresher for active businesses currently registered to sell hemp-derived cannabinoid products regarding the upcoming conversion to licensing under Minnesota Statutes, section 342.18, subdivision 4. Please read carefully.
After the adoption of rules, hemp-derived cannabinoid products that are edibles or beverages will be classified as Lower-Potency Hemp Edibles (LPHEs) and their sales will be regulated under Minnesota Statutes, section 342.46. The sale of hemp-derived topical products containing cannabidiol (CBD) or cannabigerol (CBG) will be regulated under Minnesota Statutes, section 342.66, and will not require a license. The sale of any products not included under the LPHE definition or hemp-derived topical will require a cannabis business license.
Any business registered with OCM may convert their registration by applying for a lower-potency hemp edible license this coming fall as long as their registration is in good standing with OCM and they apply while the license application window is open. Registered businesses selling hemp derived cannabinoid products may continue sales until LPHE licenses are issued at which point only lower-potency hemp edibles will be compliant. The application window for LPHE licenses is anticipated to open six months after rules are adopted. LPHEs may also be sold by businesses holding a license for cannabis retailer business, cannabis microbusiness with retail endorsement, cannabis mezzobusiness with retail endorsement, or a medical cannabis combination business with a retail endorsement. OCM has created this reference chart to help explain the differences between the license types.
License conversion is not automatic; applicants must apply for and obtain an appropriate license. A business that does not obtain a lower-potency hemp edible license will no longer be legally allowed to sell or manufacture LPHEs under their registration. Further instructions about the conversion process with be posted to our general licensing page.
Any business that wants to sell LPHEs, but is not registered before the registration portal closes, will have to wait to apply until a later lower-potency hemp edible license application window. If you are already registered, you do not need to register again; registration does not need to be renewed. Please check the online registration list to see if your business is already registered. The registration portal will be taken down upon adoption of rules and no new businesses will be eligible to register after that time.
Businesses that are manufacturing hemp-derived products will need to determine whether a lower-potency hemp edible manufacturer license or a license permitting the manufacture of cannabis (manufacturer, microbusiness, mezzobusiness, or medical cannabis combination business with appropriate endorsement) is the correct license for your activities. A lower-potency hemp edible manufacturer may only manufacture and sell hemp concentrate, artificially derived cannabinoids, and lower-potency hemp edibles.
If you are interested in performing operations that are not permitted under lower-potency hemp edible retailer or manufacturer licensing, you will need to apply for a cannabis license during the general license application period Feb. 18 - March 14. Once OCM issues lower-potency hemp edible licenses, approximately six months after OCM adopts rules, all LPHEs will have to comply with potency, packaging, and testing requirements in Minnesota Statutes, Chapter 342. Rule adoption is expected to occur in the first quarter of 2025.
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Good standing defined
To be considered in good standing with the state of Minnesota and therefore eligible for the registration to license conversion process, a registered business must not have any outstanding fines or outstanding correction orders against them.
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Batch testing requirements
In preparation for the adoption of proposed rules, businesses now registered with OCM and later licensed by OCM should be aware of requirements for product batch testing. All batches of regulated products must have a representative sample tested to verify potency, stability, and homogeneity of cannabinoids. Batches must also be tested for contaminant levels including foreign material, heavy metals, microbiological contaminants, mycotoxins, pesticide residue, and residual solvents.
Batches should be uniquely named or numbered. Each production run, and flavor of edible products and beverages should be assigned their own batch number, name, or code, from manufacturing through to labeling. Any batches that fail testing and are remediated must be assigned a new batch number due to the statutory requirement that a batch have a “specific quantity” and “using the same methods, equipment, and ingredients.” Testing of lower-potency hemp edibles (LPHE) and hemp derived cannabinoid products that do not contain intoxicating cannabinoids may be done by any ISO/IEC accredited lab with specific accreditation for cannabis testing until Jan. 1, 2026. All cannabis products must be tested by a laboratory licensed under Minnesota Statutes, Chapter 342. After Jan. 1, 2026, all LPHEs and hemp derived cannabinoid products must meet testing requirements in Minnesota. Test results must be maintained for at least five years and be made available to the public upon request, in plain language.
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A specific quantity of a specific product containing cannabinoids derived from hemp, including an edible cannabinoid product, that is manufactured at the same time and using the same methods, equipment, and ingredients that is uniform and intended to meet specifications for identity, strength, purity, and composition, and that is manufactured, packaged, and labeled according to a single batch production record executed and documented.
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A specific quantity of cannabis plants that are cultivated from the same seed or plant stock, are cultivated together, are intended to be harvested together, and receive an identical propagation and cultivation treatment;
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A specific quantity of cannabis flower that is harvested together; is uniform and intended to meet specifications for identity, strength, purity, and composition; and receives identical sorting, drying, curing, and storage treatment; or
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A specific quantity of a specific cannabis product, lower-potency hemp edible, artificially derived cannabinoid, hemp-derived consumer product, or hemp-derived topical product that is manufactured at the same time and using the same methods, equipment, and ingredients that is uniform and intended to meet specifications for identity, strength, purity, and composition, and that is manufactured, packaged, and labeled according to a single batch production record executed and documented.
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Selling clones
To grow hemp or sell hemp clones/plants in Minnesota, a person must:
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Be licensed by the Minnesota Department of Agriculture (MDA) under Minnesota Statutes, section 18K.04 or a Tribal authority with an approved United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) hemp production plan.
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Meet all requirements under Minnesota Rules, Part 1565.1000, the USDA approved Minnesota hemp production state plan, or a similar Tribal hemp production plan.
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Possess and retain, for or up to three years, all required records showing that the hemp propagules proposed for sale originated directly from plants (or other genetic sources) that were sampled by MDA or Tribal approved agents and were tested by an approved MDA, Tribal, or USDA laboratory at the time of maturity/flowering and did not exceed 0.3% total THC by dry weight.
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Only propagules used for production purposes (growth) that meet this requirement can be defined as hemp. Immature plants or propagules that cannot be shown to have originated directly from hemp parents cannot be considered hemp for production purposes under federal and state laws solely because the total THC levels at the time of sale are at or below 0.3% total THC.
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What you can grow
Minnesota Statutes, section 342.09, subdivision 2 permits the home-grow of cannabis, not hemp. Growing up to eight cannabis plants, only four of which may be flowering, for personal use does not require a license. To sell more cannabis plants, which includes cannabis clones and immature plants, you must have a license issued under Minnesota Statutes, Chapter 342. No licenses have been issued to date.
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Website Resources
We’ve recently updated several resources on our website. Bookmark these materials for easy reference!
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