Licensing
This page will give you some information and advice for filling in your Hemp Licence Application Form. If there’s anything you’re not sure about you can call or email HPRA for clarification. (Tel: 01-6764971; Email: controlleddrugs@hpra.ie)
Introductory Notes
To grow hemp in Ireland you have to be either a farmer or a registered company.
The farmer can also be the end processor of her own crop.
Licences for the cultivation of hemp are processed by the HPRA on behalf of the Department of Health. Only hemp seed varieties approved by the European Commission may be cultivated; a link to the EU list of approved seed varieties is provided below.
For seed orders, please contact elmer@fruithillfarm.com Tel: +353 (0)27 50710.
We advise you to go through the information we provide before sending the initial email to HPRA.
Once you have your licence application, you'll find the content below mirrors the various sections on the application form and includes links to where you'll find the information you'll need to provide
Please note the following changes to application procedures from 2020:
There is no application deadline. You can now apply for a licence to grow hemp in Ireland at any time during the year.
An Irish hemp licence is now valid for a full year.
HPRA recommends you apply for your licence 4 to 6 weeks before you intend to start growing your crop.
First Steps
Minimum Acreage Required: 0.74 acres (0.3 hectares) https://www.inchcalculator.com/acreage-calculator/
Register your Company: https://www.cro.ie/Registration/Company (if applicable)
Apply For Your Licence: Send an email to: controlleddrugs@hpra.ie. In the email tell HPRA that you want to apply for a licence and tell them what you want to grow the hemp for; fibre for building materials or Seed for hemp seed oil etc. Before they send you out an application form the HPRA will contact you for further information.
Completing Your Application Form
If something doesn’t apply to you just write N/A.
Section 1
Eircode finder: https://finder.eircode.ie/#/.
Double check that the personal email address you supply is correct.
Details of the acreage farmed means the entire acreage of your farm.
If you’re applying as a company:
Find your CRO number at https://www.cro.ie/Help/Using-Services/About-CRO-Company-Search
Certificate of Incorporation website: www.cro.ie/About-CRO/CRO-Certificates
Section 3
You have to provide an OS map that clearly shows the sites where hemp will be planted - the scale of the map should be 1:2,500
Find GPS / ITM at the link below: https://irish.gridreferencefinder.com/
If you don’t own the land you get the Herd Number from the owner.
Total acreage of hemp: Acreage Calculator is at: https://www.inchcalculator.com/acreage-calculator/
Security Arrangements -e.g. describe how the field/plot is accessed / state whether there is any road frontage/ include a description of any boundary fencing, locked farm gates, stock proof fencing, barbed wire fencing etc also name any boundary hedges, trees or other vegetation and state if they are mature, etc.
Section 4
Name the variety of seed you will grow: Find the seed varieties you are allowed to grow in Ireland at the link below: https://ec.europa.eu/food/plant/plant_propagation_material/plant_variety_catalogues_databases/search/public/index.cfm?event=SearchForm&ctl_type=A
Give the name and address of your seed supplier: this means the merchant you bought the seed from.
Photocopy the seed label / sign the photocopy and send this with your application. YOU must keep the original label for 2 years. This is important! put it somewhere safe as you may be required to produce it for inspection.
Section 5
If you or anyone involved with you in the hemp growing business has been convicted of a drugs offence you must provide this information.
Section 6
Describe what the hemp you grow is going to be used for (/Fibre/Seed/Oil/ etc) and details of how it is to be processed.
The section on destruction is looking for information about what you will do with any crop material that’s left over after the processing. For example it might be ploughed back in as soil additive or made into compost or used for fodder etc.
If you’re not processing the hemp yourself, you must send a copy of the end-user contract with your application.
Section 7
Double check this section before you send your application.
If you don’t yet have a photocopy of the seed label to send with your application you have to send it to the HPRA within two weeks of your licence being granted. Failure to send it on time could result in you being denied a licence in the future.
If you don’t yet have the documentation from the seed supplier to send with your application you must also send this to HPRA within 2 weeks of your licence being granted.
Section 8
Sign and send it. (Keep a copy for your records)
Finally:
Based on the most common mistakes made on forms they received last year, HPRA have sent us the following advice for applicants:
You must provide an Eircode for your own address (an Eircode for the cultivation site should only be provided if relevant).
If there is a section of the form that doesn’t apply to you, you should write ‘n/a’ in the box.
You should double check that the email address provided in the application form is correct.
You must supply an Ordnance Survey map of the proposed crop location.
The map coordinates provided for the proposed crop location should be ITM co-ordinates.
Make sure you include the variety of seed to be sown and the name of the seed certifier (this information is included on the licence and your application cannot progress without this detail).
If you own the land proposed for hemp cultivation, you should state this on the application form.
In relation to security arrangements, you should detail how the proposed crop location is accessed and if it is visible from a public right of way.
Applicants should include a description of what happens to the waste crop under the section on ‘destruction’.
An applicant is not authorised to cultivate hemp until they receive a hard copy of the hemp licence in the post.