To Whom It May Concern
First of all, we Asayake would like to express our deepest apologies for the delay in replying and responding to you. We have been facing the most serious situation in the last one and half months since we started importing and selling CBD products in 2013. The problem was caused by a US CBD manufacturer called Hemp Baby.
We have been clearing Hemp Baby’s CBD products through proper procedures. However, it was discovered that the CBD gummies that HempBaby exports to Japan contain melatonin, which is banned in Japan for use and sale. It was our customers who noticed it. The customer, who bought Hemp Baby’s CBD gummies, stripped the best-by-date sticker on the product packaging and found melatonin on the ingredient list. Of course, melatonin was not included in the list of ingredients submitted by Hemp Baby to Japanese regulators. If it was listed, the product would not have been able to obtain an import permit.
We asked the person in charge of Hemp Baby to explain the fact. The person in charge of Hemp Baby said that he uses melatonin for CBD gummies for the United States where melatonin is approved, but not for CBD gummies manufactured for Japan. He explained that it was just the wrong packaging. However, even if Hemp Baby does not use melatonin in its products for Japan, it is against Japanese law to list the unused ingredients on the package. So we decided to voluntarily recall products with melatonin on the package and refund the customers who purchased them.
Japanese regulators then analyzed and inspected Hemp Baby’s CBD gummies. And melatonin was detected in the product. The regulators banned the sale of the product and ordered the seller to recall it.
The explanation by the person in charge of Hemp Baby that melatonin was not used in products for Japan was not true. Hemp Baby knew that their products for Japan contained melatonin. And they covered it up by putting an expiration date sticker over the melatonin in the list of ingredients on the package.
We have discontinued the sale of all Hemp Baby products. And we have been recalling them and refunding them to the retailers and consumers who purchased them. We have sold a lot of Hemp Baby products since 2019. So we have been dealing with a lot of phone calls and email complaints for the past month and a half and have spent a lot of effort on product recalls and refunds.
We have asked Hemp Baby to refund the cost of the products we have recalled from retailers and consumers. The person in charge of Hemp Baby replied a month ago that they would refund us. However, he recently contacted us to say that not only he would not refund, but he also threatened to sue us if we did not remove our announcement which mentioned that Hemp Baby’s products contain melatonin and that Hemp Baby’s explanation was a lie.
We still need to address the Hemp Baby issue, but product recalls and refunds are almost complete. From now on our operations will be back to normal.
Once again, we sincerely apologize for the delay. We will contact you individually as soon as possible.
Best regards,
Shirasaka