Decades ago, the South American nation of Peru adopted hemp prohibition policies, much like the rest of the world. While the professed aim of prohibition policies was to try to curb the use of intoxicating substances, global prohibition policies were extended to hemp for reasons that will never make logical sense. To be fair, cannabis and hemp prohibition policies never make logical sense, but I digress.

In recent years, many governments around the world have worked to modernize their hemp and cannabis policies to some degree, including in Peru. The nation’s lawmakers adopted Law No. 32195 in mid-2024, which differentiated industrial hemp from intoxicating cannabis and set the wheels in motion for modernizing Peru’s hemp regulations.

Peru’s government has recently announced that it has crafted draft hemp rules and regulations to further implement the 2024 law and is seeking public input on the draft rules during a 90-day public comment period.

“The Ministry of Agrarian Development and Irrigation (MIDAGRI) today published the draft Supreme Decree approving the Regulations of Law No. 32195, the Law on the Agricultural Development of Hemp for Industrial Use, for the purpose of receiving comments, contributions, opinions, and suggestions from public entities or private institutions, and the general public.” MIDAGRI stated in a government press release (translated from Spanish to English).

“Likewise, it is ordered that the General Directorate of Agricultural Development and Agroecology be in charge of receiving, consolidating, systematizing and analyzing the comments, contributions, opinions and suggestions, as appropriate, regarding the regulatory project. Contributions will be received through the institutional email address: ley32195canamo@midagri.gob.pe, through the Digital Parts Desk of the Ministry of Agrarian Development and Irrigation (https://mesadepartesdigital.midagri.gob.pe) or through the Citizen Service and Document Management Office, located at Jirón Cahuide No. 805, Jesús María district.” the government also stated.

Like much of South America, Peru’s climate is well-suited for industrial hemp cultivation. The hemp plant can indeed be cultivated almost anywhere on the planet, but cultivating industrial hemp on a large scale in a manner that yields quality harvests is a different matter. Once Peru implements a regulatory framework for industrial hemp, it has a great chance of becoming an international leader.

During a recent presentation at the International Cannabis Business Conference in Berlin, leading international cannabis industry economist Beau Whitney, founder of Whitney Economics, provided data demonstrating that the value of the global industrial hemp industry could be as much as $456.2 billion.