Last week, the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) confirmed in an expanded policy update that hemp and hemp products are mailable under certain circumstances, as set forth below.

In a statement published to the agency’s Postal Bulletin, USPS said that since the passage of the 2018 Farm Bill it has “received numerous inquiries from commercial entities and individuals wishing to use the mail to transport cannabidiol (CBD) oil and various other products derived from the cannabis plant.” As a response, in March, the institution issued internal guidelines on the matter and is now further clarifying what it considers mailable. The requirements under the updated policy are as follow:

Hemp and hemp-based products, including cannabidiol (CBD) with the tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) concentration of such hemp (or its derivatives) not exceeding a 0.3 percent limit are permitted to be mailed only when:

a. The mailer complies with all applicable federal, state, and local laws (such as the Agricultural Act of 2014 and the Agricultural Improvement Act of 2018) pertaining to hemp production, processing, distribution, and sales; and

b. The mailer retains records establishing compliance with such laws, including laboratory test results, licenses, or compliance reports, for no less than 2 years after the date of mailing.

The previous guidance required mailers to provide USPS with a signed self-certification statement, a document showing that the mailer has authorization to market the products pursuant to a state Department of Agriculture license, and a lab report detailing the THC concentration of the products. Under the new guidelines, “a mailer is not required to present the documentation at the time of mailing, but such documentation may be requested either at that time or on a later date if there is doubt about the item’s mailability or the addressee’s ability to legally receive it,” USPS wrote. “This process is consistent with existing regulations governing questions about mailability of restricted matter.”

The agency also said that it expects to further clarify mailability issues surrounding hemp products after the U.S. Department of Agriculture adopts hemp production regulations under the 2018 Farm Bill.