A collection of experts in Brazil is urging the nation’s government to increase the legal threshold for tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) contained in industrial hemp. Currently, the THC threshold for industrial hemp in Brazil is set at 0.3%, which is a common threshold set by other governments around the world, including the United States.

“The 0.3% THC limit for industrial hemp cultivation in Brazil is generating concern among industry experts. A Technical Note (No. 01/2026), recently published and jointly prepared by the Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation (Embrapa), HempTech Brasil, and the Ficus Institute, warns that this parameter should not be considered a scientific dogma or a universal standard.” reported CannaReporter in its original coverage (translated from Portuguese to English).

The experts point out that the climate in Brazil is much different from the climates found in other parts of the world, such as in the United States and Europe. Brazil’s climate is tropical, and as such, the hemp plant grows differently.

“Being a tropical country, the shorter duration of daylight directly affects hemp, a plant highly sensitive to photoperiod. Under these conditions, the plant tends to flower earlier, which not only reduces its size and biomass production but also alters the expression of its chemical characteristics, potentially leading to natural and unavoidable variations in cannabinoid levels, including THC.” CannaReporter writes.

While some countries around the world also have a THC threshold of 0.3% for industrial hemp, others have set larger THC limits. For example, South Africa has set the highest THC threshold at 2%. Argentina, Uruguay, and Czechia have all set a 1% threshold, and Paraguay has set a threshold of 0.5%.

In mid-July 2025, a group of Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) announced their plan to push for a hemp legal framework for the European Union. At the time, the German Cannabis Business Association (BvCW) conducted a poll asking what the THC threshold should be for industrial hemp in the EU.

“In our non-representative survey conducted from August 26, 2025, to September 1, 2025, we asked: “How would you rate a Europe-wide limit of 0.3% for the THC content of industrial hemp?”” BvCW stated.

“Forty percent rated 0.3% as much too low, and another 47.5% as rather too low. Thus, 87.5% favored a higher limit. Only 2.5% considered the value just right. None of the respondents considered the limit too high. 10% answered “don’t know.”” stated BvCW about the poll’s results.

A better regulatory concept that was proposed by leading hemp expert Morris Beagle, President of We Are For Better Alternatives, during a panel discussion at the 2025 International Cannabis Business Conference in Berlin, is to enforce a THC limit at the product level.

Rather than place the burden of meeting a THC limit on farmers, which is not an easy standard to meet given all of the variables involved, the burden to meet a THC threshold limit would instead be placed on product makers, which is considerably easier for them to do comparatively.