EU reforming legal framework for hemp

Older and unreasonably high levels of THC in foodstuffs mean that this sector of European cannabis has a significant competitive disadvantage compared to producers in North America and Asia.

In connection with the reform of the EU Common Agricultural Policy, the European Industrial Hemp Association (EIHA) is working with individual members of the European Parliament to create an environment in which EU cannabis production will have the greatest competitive advantage over other regions of the world. The parties involved in amending the current EU acquis communautaire expect the final recommendations to be ready by the end of January.

Adjustments to existing regulations were made to the relevant EU structures in early December. Members of the European Parliament are currently discussing the documents submitted for consideration in order to reach compromises and to prepare finalized proposals to the relevant committee of the European Parliament (a meeting is expected at the end of March). Voting on the agreed changes to the current legal framework is planned at the April session of the European Parliament, even before the relevant documents will be sent to Consilium (Council of the European Union).

Despite the change of EIHA's leadership, the European Horse Breeders Association is actively involved in the above processes, lobbying the interests of the industry through individual members of the European Parliament. For example, one of the zealous supporters of improving the EU regulatory framework governing modern cannabis production is the Irish MEP Luke Flanagan.

The work on improvement of the EU hemp policy at the moment concerns the following key aspects:

- an increase in the allowable level of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) for technical hemp cultivars grown in the EU from 0.2 to 0.3%;

- forming clear criteria for the acceptability of THC levels in foodstuffs;

- regulating the processes of crossing and gene modification of cannabis varieties.

Increasing the maximum allowable level of THC to 0.3% will bring the EU back to the limit that was valid until 1999. According to European growers, the current 0.2% maximum allowable level of THC limits the choice of low-drug hemp varieties that can be legally cultivated by European agricultural producers. According to market experts, raising the level of THC to 0.3% may significantly increase the list of cannabis varieties that EU farmers will be able to legally grow in the interests of the rapidly growing pan-European cannabis market.

According to experts involved in the development of the improved regulatory framework, outdated and unreasonably high levels of THC in food products mean that this sector of the European cannabis industry has a significant competitive disadvantage compared to producers in North America and Asia.

Technical cannabis varieties currently used by EU agricultural producers are largely the result of long term crossbreeding processes that undermine the genetic heritage and seed continuity, leading to the gradual degeneration and emergence of unstable hemp hybrids.

Association Commentary on Ukrainian Technical Hemp

Common Agricultural Policy,  CAP is a system of agricultural subsidies and actions within the framework of various agricultural support programs of the European Union member states. It spends about 46.7 % of the total EU budget. The programme, which was introduced in 1962, has been continuously reformed and now covers rural development. Hemp is one of the crops eligible to receive CAP.

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Luc "Flanagan is known as a social activist who has long been working to legalize the use of cannabis for medical and recreational purposes. A prominent Irish public figure who is elected at the local, national and European levels. In 2000, as part of an election campaign, the Irish Parliament sent each of the 200 members of parliament came to the Irish National Parliament in a hemp suit as a deputy. In 2013, he submitted a draft law to the parliament on the need to legalize cannabis.