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France is set to restrict CBD edibles under stricter enforcement of EU Novel Food rules, a move expected to disrupt parts of the hemp-derived food market.
The ban, according to AFP and other local news outlets, is taking effect on May 15 and will prohibit the sale of edible products containing CBD, the primary nonintoxicating compound found in hemp.
The ban is not the result of new legislation but follows a strict interpretation of the European Union food agency’s establishment of safe consumption levels for CBD.
The European Union’s regulatory framework classifies CBD as a novel food. A novel food is one that was not consumed in significant quantities in the European Union before May 15, 1997. That is the case for CBD products, which must obtain a green light from the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) before they can be legally marketed.
To date, no CBD-containing product has been approved for sale, despite more than 200 applications.
Nevertheless, EU member states have largely adopted a tolerant approach toward CBD, although countries like Italy have recently restricted its use.
But new thresholds set by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), which established a provisional safe intake level of 0.0275 mg per kilogram of body weight per day, or roughly 2 mg per day for a 70-kilogram adult, have prompted France to take a more assertive stance on CBD.
On April 15, France’s Directorate-General for Food reportedly presented its enforcement plan to professional organizations, with the ban expected to be put in place this week.
In practice, this would mean that CBD shops, as well as other physical and online retailers such as pharmacies and supermarkets that sell CBD gummies, sublingual CBD oils, capsules, CBD snacks, and CBD drinks, could face the risk that these products would be subject to recall.
The Union of Industries for the Valorization of Hemp Extracts (UIVEC) says that in France there are 2,000 hemp producers, 20,000 pharmacies, 1,500 CBD shops and several major retailers, representing an estimated €100 million in turnover for CBD-based food supplements alone, which this new ban may disrupt.
In response to the upcoming ban, professional organizations are calling for an immediate suspension of the control plan, an emergency meeting with the relevant ministries, and rules that would allow compliant operators to keep working while the European Novel Food process is still pending.
France’s Crackdown On Cannabis And Hemp
The restriction on CBD edibles would further deepen France’s restrictive approach to cannabis and hemp.
Recreational cannabis is illegal, while its medical use is authorized only in tightly controlled trials.
Meanwhile, industrial hemp is legal, and France is the EU’s leading producer and exporter of the crop, accounting for more than 60% of EU production.
CDB extracted from EU‑certified hemp varieties containing less than 0.3% THC is generally legal to produce, market, and consume, but the rules vary by EU member state, and many products are subject to EU Novel Food requirements and national drug regulations.
In France, authorities attempted to ban retail sales of CBD flowers and leaves in 2021, but that ban was later overturned.
The turning point for CBD in France and the EU was the Kanavape case. French retailers of CBD e‑liquid made from hemp legally grown in the Czech Republic were prosecuted under French narcotics law. However, in November 2020, the Court of Justice of the European Union ruled that CBD doesn’t have a psychotropic effect, doesn’t qualify as a narcotic, and a member state can’t simply ban CBD lawfully produced in another EU country unless the restriction is necessary and proportionate for public‑health reasons.
The ruling, however, has not stopped French authorities from seeking to crack down on hemp products, and the further step toward banning CBD edibles is likely to prompt new legal challenges, as European thresholds for CBD food remain provisional and the EFSA has said further evaluation is needed.