Austrian associations address Europe at novel food meeting and call for CBD market regulation

The European Commission working group and the representatives of the European Food and Safety Authority met yesterday in Brussels to discuss the issue of «novel foods». Austrian associations took the opportunity to call for European regulation of CBD. Such was the case of’consumer protection association of activist Peter Kolba, who launched an online petition and the association Alliance against ignorance which published an open letter.

A patchwork of national situations

Europe recently updated the ‘novel food’ catalog’ and included CBD. In response, some countries, including Austria, simply decided to ban CBD from food and cosmetic products at a time when this sector of the industry was booming. The European catalog is not in itself binding; each member state decides what measures it wishes to adopt on the issue. Restrictions are already in force in Austria and Denmark, and to a lesser extent in the UK and Spain. Although independent of European regulations, the situation in France is just as confused.

In Europe, the current situation is a patchwork of divergent legal situations, creating total confusion for the industry. In countries where bans have been put in place, the physical distribution of CBD products is restricted, while products of unknown source and composition are accessible on the Net. What's more, some CBD products have therapeutic value, and their prohibition also penalizes patients who do not have access to medical cannabis in their own country. For these reasons, the Austrian associations are calling for the CBD products market to be unified and regulated once and for all.

«This letter aims to draw your attention to the particular situation of patients enduring pain treatment, their interest in the availability of affordable CBD products as food or dietary supplements and, the threat of the creation of monopolies for the pharmaceutical industry if CBD products are withdrawn from the market» reads the open letter from the Alliance Against Ignorance association signed by Peter Kolba and addressed to European representatives.

All eyes on Europe

On February 13, the European Parliament voted on a resolution calling for liberalization and a harmonized definition of medical cannabis. For the moment, the European Union has no real position, since this resolution and the «novel food» catalog are not binding. Nevertheless, by suggesting restrictions on the marketing of CBD, the novel food regulations threaten to close the door on small and medium-sized businesses, for whom the authorization procedure is too long and costly.

At the same time, a harmonized definition of medical cannabis that takes into account only pharmaceutical products and not natural extracts would exclude an entire segment of the cannabis industry to the benefit of the pharmaceutical industry. The suggestions made by European institutions are therefore not insignificant for cannabis entrepreneurs. Visit Cannabis Trades Association British law firm Mackrell Turner Garrett to represent its interests at the meeting.

For his part, activist Peter Kolba deplores the fact that the meeting resembles a lobbying event for the pharmaceutical and food industries. He points to the lack of representation of patients who use hemp or cannabis to treat themselves. He also plans to present the results of his petition to the Austrian candidates in the European elections, asking them to express their views on the subject so that citizens for whom CBD regulation is a priority can make an informed choice.