STOLEN GRAIN REPORTEDLY SEIZED: Russia allegedly shipped a boatload of stolen Ukrainian grain aboard the Russian cargo ship, Zhibek Zholy, last week, POLITICO's Sarah Anne Aarup reports. Ukraine said the ship, which left from the Russian-occupied port of Berdyansk, was seized upon arriving in Turkey on Sunday. Moscow had touted the shipment as a reopening of seaports for cargo — namely, the hundreds of millions of tons of grain locked within the war-torn country's borders — which could help avert a hunger crisis for millions who rely on Ukraine for food imports. But analysts say the grain aboard the Russian ship is likely stolen from Ukrainian farmers, and that its entry into Turkey could poison a potential Black Sea corridor that the Biden administration and European allies have been laboring to set up. An already tricky endeavor: As Meredith has reported , the U.S. has been racing to create a corridor by land or sea that will free the grain trapped within Ukraine's borders. The United Nations has been leading negotiations to reopen Black Sea ports to resume cargo shipments. But the U.S. is skeptical that those talks will reach any sort of conclusion given Moscow's ask to end Western sanctions. The U.S. also has been working with allies to patch together an expanded land corridor for Ukrainian grain, but that could still be months away from operation. Made trickier by the shipment: The arrival of allegedly stolen Ukrainian grain to Turkey, which has offered security guarantees for any corridor created for grain shipments, leaves Ankara and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan with a difficult call. Receiving and re-exporting the grain to countries in need could help stave off a hunger crisis for millions. But it also puts Turkey at risk of being seen as a middle-man peddling the stolen goods of Russian President Vladimir Putin. The outlook: The fate of the seized ship, and the grain aboard it, will be decided by a group of investigators from Turkey. Bloomberg on Monday reported that the investigation had begun. PORTS TO STAY OPEN AFTER CONTRACT EXPIRATION: Ports on the West Coast will continue to operate after the contract between the International Longshore and Warehouse Union and Pacific Maritime Association expired last week, the two parties said in a rare joint statement posted to Twitter. Despite the vow to keep talks going, the statement made clear that there will be no extension to the now-expired contract. Talks over a new contact, which began in May, were widely expected to run past the June 30 expiration. But the joint statement shows the level of commitment both sides have to avoid disruptions to an already battered supply chain. Context: The ILWU and PMA renegotiate a new contract every few years, but the history of negotiations between the two parties is filled with disruptions. In 2002, negotiations over technology integration in ports caused slowdowns and an 11-day shutdown, forcing the George W. Bush administration to intervene and reopen the ports. In 2008, ILWU orchestrated a day-long work stoppage and sporadic stoppages occurred up the coast for three weeks. Then in 2014, a stalled negotiation led to work slowdowns and gridlock, forcing the Obama administration to intervene. Both sides have signaled this time around that port automation will be front-and-center. Western U.S. ports are among the slowest in the world, according to a study from the World Bank, and the PMA has been eager to speed them up via automation. But dockworkers view automated ports as a threat to their livelihood and oppose widespread integration. Power plays: More than twenty Democratic representatives last week sent a letter to the ILWU and PMA urging them to "stay committed to the collective bargaining process and work in good faith." The letter was led by Rep. Linda Sánchez (D-Calif.) and signed by House Ag Committee members Jim Costa (D-Calif.) and Jimmy Panetta (D-Calif.). President Joe Biden also met with the two sides last month during a visit to the Port of Los Angeles, where the two sides said they discussed a "shared commitment to reach a collective bargaining agreement that is fair to both parties." HEMP GROWERS CONTINUE TO STRUGGLE: Hemp growers continue to struggle with confusion around regulations for the crop, four years after Congress legalized its sale, POLITICO's Mona Zhang and Paul Demko report. Courts, regulators and lawmakers are still trying to work out how to deal with hemp and its derivatives — which can include the intoxicating Delta-8 THC — amid regulatory inaction. The FDA's stance continues to be that most ingestible hemp-derived products are illegal, although its enforcement actions have largely been limited to sending out warning letters to companies that make dubious medical claims. Recent changes to hemp law: Several states have recently had events that have once again turned the market upside down for growers. The Texas Supreme Court upheld a ban on producing smokable hemp products; Oregon regulators banned the process used to create Delta-8 THC; a Kansas dispensary filed a lawsuit over the seizure of its intoxicating Delta-8 THC products; and lawmakers in North Carolina nearly made hemp illegal again before a last minute agreement in the legislature kept it legal. Ag pressure heats up: Some agriculture groups have urged Congress to revisit hemp in the 2023 farm bill. The National Association of State Departments of Agriculture has called for Congress to increase the amount of THC allowed in a hemp crop to 1 percent. The current law, authorized by the 2014 farm bill, stands at 0.3 percent, leaving many farmers unable to market their so-called "hot hemp" if it crosses the threshold. Rep. David Scott (D-Ga.), the chair of the agriculture committee, has also made it a priority to address hemp in the next farm bill. "We have such a variation of state laws where we are, it's reminiscent of prohibition time," Scott said at a February House Financial Services Subcommittee hearing. "We are also going into our farm bill, we've got to address this issue, we can no longer hide it. On the Hill this week: It's another slow week in Washington as legislators are out on their second week of the July Fourth recess. But Scott's House Agriculture Committee on Thursday will hold a listening session for the 2023 farm bill in California, hosted by Costa.
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