The hemp sector is hopeful a recent USDA request for comment on multiple pending hemp regulations means the department will suspend the requirements before they become effective at the end of next month.

The USDA Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) announced Monday that it is placing sanctions on three produce businesses for “failing to meet their contractual obligations to the sellers of produce they purchased and failing to pay reparation awards issued under the PACA (Perishable Agricultural Commodities Act).”