What is the CBD / THC legislation in Italy?
Some of the measures that European states are adopting can be illustrated by a resolution recently approved by the Agricultural Commission in the Italian parliament. It proposes an increase in the THC level in industrial hemp from EU varieties from 0.2 to 0.3%.This would put it on par with the rest of the global market, as the permitted levels of THC in CBD products in North America and Australia are 0.3%. It also asks to regulate the sale of dried, chopped or pelleted biomass of the whole plant or its parts, with a THC content not exceeding 0.2%. There are no current guidelines on CBD or THC limits regarding foods in Italy, and this resolution calls for them to be defined.
In practice, to prevent leaves and florins in the “grey zone to escape further legislation, Italian companies have to register the basic products of flowers for animals. However, pure cannabinoids such as CBD extracts cannot be registered as pet food. CBD for pet food is also prohibited.
Italians are not alone in this new practice. Following the change in “Novel Food”, many European companies have addressed this issue by relabeling their products. Austrian biotech company CannHelp has withdrawn all of its CBD-based oils, foods and cosmetics. The company has relabeled the oils so that they are now classified as "aromatic products" and, as such, has put them back on the market.
What is the CBD / THC legislation in Germany?
The German Federal Office for Consumer Protection and Food Safety (BVL) outlawed CBD in food and dietary supplements in March 2019. Products containing cannabidiol are prohibited unless they have been authorized as a medicinal product or "New food". Starting in April, Nordic Oil and other German companies have been subjected to a series of checks, and their CBD products have been confiscated.Simultaneous searches targeted several stores selling CBD products. Bavaria is considered the toughest German federal state when it comes to cannabinoids, but shops in other parts of the country, such as Hamburg, have also been raided on suspicion of narcotics trafficking.
It is worth mentioning that the largest market in Europe for CBD sales is Germany, which is expected to sell for 1.8 billion euros by the end of the year.
CBD oil becomes a “Novel Food” in Spain
There have been recent regulatory changes in the legal status of CBD oil in Spain. The cannabis market in Spain is a mix of Spanish and foreign companies that sell seeds, fertilize, hemp-infused beers and CBD tinctures, oils and creams. Distributors, producers, grow shops and online sellers operate in a grey market that allows them to sell as long as they follow certain rules.In Spain, any product that has CBD oil as one of its components cannot be sold if the THC level is above 0.2%. The prohibition is following international law. Additionally, all seeds for growing hemp must come from the Approved European Hemp Seed Catalog.
In April 019, the Spanish Agency for Consumers, Food Safety and Nutrition (AECOSAN) have a guide that states that CBD oils, budding from whether its origin is natural or synthetic, thus published the extracts and other parts of the Cannabis sativa L. plant (flowers, leaves and stems) are considered “Novel Food”.
THC classified as amazing in Sweden
In June, the Swedish Supreme Court ruled that CBD oil containing low THC levels is classified as a narcotic. In addition, the court disagreed with the Swedish Medical Product Agency's proposal to include cannabidiol-containing oral or inhaled products in pharmaceutical legislation.Industrial hemp is essential under Swedish drug legislation, and this only applies to plants, not products. Since 2017, eight companies selling CBD oil as a dietary supplement have been banned from distributing their products by the Swedish Medical Products Agency. Sweden also leads EU member states in the number of CBD notifications submitted through the EU Rapid Alert System (RASFF) portal. Out of 35 notifications, 14 came from Sweden.
Polish tax classification on CBD oils
In Poland, the tax classification places CBD oils in the same group as cooking oils and margarine, and therefore subject to a 5% value-added tax (VAT) rate, at 23% of the can medical nabis.Local reports say the Chief Health Inspectorate and police have stepped up their enforcement activities in retail stores selling CBD products. More than 20 Polish CBD shops have been subjected to the confiscation of their goods by the police.
Cannabis as “another smoking tobacco” in Belgium
Another novelty in European legislation came from Belgium in May when the Public Finance Service (FPS Finance) made an announcement clarifying that "herbal smoking products containing CBD and some THC content" are legal. and belong to the category of "other smoking tobaccos".
He defined products such as dried hemp flowers as "tobacco-free" and can be consumed through combustion if they do not contain more than 0.2% THC. Health, Food Chain Safety and the Environment (HFCSE) urged manufacturers to contact authorities before marketing any herbal smoking products. This measure involves a tax of around 30% and an additional 21% VAT on hemp flowers.
CBD in Europe: Ukraine and Slovakia - Virtually illegal
Ukraine has maintained its THC level at 0.08% (for the production of seeds and fibres), and Slovakia is the only country in the European Union where CBD and THC are still illegal. Only the cultivation of industrial hemp varieties approved by the EU and with less than 0.2% THC is legal in Slovakia, and cannot be grown to extract CBD.The local pharmaceutical business is also seeking approval for the development and production of cannabinoid-based drugs in both states.
Romania: according to criminal law
In Romania, any cannabis-derived consumable product is regulated by criminal law. However, in 2019, a report by the European Monitoring Center for Drugs and Drug Addiction showed that there are herbs, oils and e-liquids (liquids for electronic cigarettes) on the Romanian market.CBD in Europe: Bulgaria will establish regulation on CBD
Not all EU member states have announced the application of the guidelines for the 'Novel Food' catalogue on CBD, and there are unconfirmed reports that Bulgaria has recently issued a license that would allow the sale of food products. CBD.CBD "soft drug" in the Netherlands
The Netherlands, the largest European producer of hemp, has a legislative framework derived from the Opium Act introduced in 1912 and amended in 1976 when the distinction between "hard" and "soft" drugs was introduced. Under this law, CBD is not legal but it is tolerated as a soft drug.The Opium Act was amended in 1999 when hemp produced exclusively for the fibre hemp market with a THC content of less than 0.2% was legalized. It is still illegal to produce CBD oils because it is illegal to produce plant extracts, so hemp is produced in the Netherlands and then processed abroad.
Furthermore, according to Dutch law, the maximum level of THC in CBD products is 0.05%. CBD isolates and THC extracts are prohibited for sale to the public but allowed for export.
Switzerland 1% THC
In Switzerland, the legal level of THC is 1%. In 2011, Switzerland increased the limit that defines the classification of the cannabis plant according to the drug control law from 0.3% to 1% THC.The number of CBD-containing cannabis products on offer has expanded since mid-2016 when a company marketed a large amount of 'low THC' cannabis product regulated as a 'tobacco replacement product' with related warnings on health and tax levels.
Once word got out that products containing less than 1% THC were not subject to legal cannabis controls in Switzerland, the commercialization of these low-THC products increased.