The struggle for the possibility of using CBD as a dietary supplement continues

Reasonable arguments led European Union officials to revise regulations adopted in favor of individual companies planning to monopolize the drug-free cannabinoid market.

On the pages of the specialized electronic publication of Ukrainian hemp growers, which is one of the projects of the Association “Ukrainian Technical Hemp”, it was previously explained, “ Why to put hemp / cannabinoid products into the category of“ new food ”would be wrong .” Taking into account the trends of individual EU companies to monopolize the market of drug-free cannabinoids, the wording “new food” applied, our dear readers will certainly be interested in the experience of European cannabis advocates defending their right to use drug-free cannabinoids without any additional administrative or financial burden .

There are many opinions in the EU about cannabidiol (CBD) and the new EU food law. Recently, the European Union regulations have been amended, according to which products containing CBD are subject to the New Food Act. As a result, approval procedures for any type of food containing cannabidiol become expensive and take a lot of time to go through various kinds of administrative procedures. At the same time, EU growers have joined forces in search of leverage over the officials of the European Commission, with the aim of abolishing the legal act, significantly worsening their position in the international hemp market.

In particular, representatives of the European Association of Industrial Hemp ((European Industrial Hemp Association, EIHA) met with representatives of the working group "PAFF" (Plants, Animals, Food and Feed - plants, animals, food and feed), in order to discuss the changes to the new food rules In order to demonstrate the absurdity of the requirements of EU officials, a compelling presentation was prepared.

After the joint meeting, Lorenza Romane (Lorenza Romanese, Managing Director of EIHA) commented on the event as follows: “We began negotiations with government officials - representatives of the PAFF commission. First of all, the meeting outlined the reasons why making such changes in EU legislation is harmful for the countries included in it, namely:

• New rules make it almost impossible for European manufacturers to survive. As a result, a vacuum in the market is likely to be filled with a black market. As a proof, a Dutch study was quoted in which it is claimed that 54% of all clients using CBD will at the moment continue to buy products containing this drug-free cannabinoid, even if EU regulations will make them illegal;

• Such restrictions of the market initially put companies from the EU in a non-competitive position. Producers from the EU will be connected by artificial administrative barriers, and companies from the USA, Canada, China and Switzerland will fill the world market with their products;

• the introduction of such restrictions will be the basis for reducing the number of jobs in the enterprises of the EU hemp industry;

• loss of a significant environmental component associated with the cultivation of industrial crops of technical hemp in Europe.

New EU food products are primarily products that did not find commercial use before 1997 or were consumed in small quantities by EU citizens. These include newly developed, innovative substances and foods produced by new technologies or usually consumed outside the EU. In particular, hemp oil, can in no way be a “new product”, since it was already produced and was actively used until 1997 in the countries of the European Union.

Recent changes in EU regulations indicate that Cannabis Sativa products and their derivatives containing cannabinoids, primarily CBD, are considered new foods, since past consumption history could not be proven. In order to demonstrate that this kind of position is absolutely false, EIHA representatives provided convincing evidence that 23 companies in the EU before 1997 produced more than 255 tons of cannabis-based products. EIHA specialists convincingly argued that these products inevitably contained cannabidiol, therefore, CBD cannot fall into the category of “new food”. Examples of hemp products containing CBD were given from Germany, Italy, Poland, Slovakia and Sweden. Even the 15th-century recipe from the Vatican was part of the evidence that this cannabinoid was used since ancient times as one of the ingredients in food products in the EU.

The position of the PAFF working group after this meeting was commented on by Daniel Kruse (Daniel Kruse, member of the EIHA board) “The commission members were impressed with the evidence and arguments presented by the representatives of the Association. It became clear that this issue should be re-submitted for consideration. "

According to Lorenz Romane, “During the meeting, it was agreed on the need to continue collecting evidence and arguments to further strengthen the position that cannabidiol-containing cannabis products were consumed throughout the history of modern Europe.”

Commentary of the Association "Ukrainian technical hemp"

EIHA has consolidated around itself EU stakeholders that work with products containing CBD. The arguments presented by the EIHA representatives led European Union officials to revise the regulations adopted in favor of individual companies planning to monopolize the drug-free cannabinoid market.