Health Minister Michael Ferguson said he secured agreement at a forum in Hobart to "accelerate" a lifting on the ban on low-THC hemp being approved for human consumption.

"While a vote was disappointingly defeated earlier this year, we fought hard for the issue to remain on the forum agenda," he said on Friday.

"As a result the meeting today was provided with an update on work addressing information gaps in relation to low-THC hemp for use in food."

But Denison independent MHR Andrew Wilkie said the move was "spineless".

"The fact is this is a lucrative and safe crop for human consumption, not something you can get high on and legal in just about every other country," he said.

"Instead of educating the community, the government is pandering to naivety, some weird ideological bent and scaremongering by the police."

Industrial Hemp Association of Tasmania president Phil Reader said he was frustrated, but not surprised by the delay in approving the product.

"We're hoping that it'll be early next year that commonsense prevails," he said.

"Even the prime minister has acknowledged to me that bureaucratic bungling is the reason that this hasn't gotten through."

Primary Industries Minister Jeremy Rockliff said lifting the ban would be a "sensible reduction of unnecessary red tape".

"Allowing the use of low-THC hemp in food products has huge potential to open new markets for our agriculture industry, strengthening the economy and creating jobs," Mr Rockliff said.

Mr Reader said the hemp industry could double or triple from a current value of around $600,000 a year if it was permitted as a food product.