France still Europe's leading hemp producer

France remains Europe's leading hemp-producing country, with 17,900 hectares and more than 35% of Europe's total hemp-cultivated area, according to the latest report from the European Industrial Hemp Association (EIHA), which draws primarily on data from the authorities in each country for the year 2018.

France is followed by Italy (4,000 ha) and the Netherlands (3,833 ha); these three countries accounted for more than half of Europe’s industrial hemp cultivation in 2018. Hemp acreage is generally on the rise, with a 3.3% increase in acreage between 2017 and 2018, reaching just over 50,000 hectares.

The EIHA also surveyed its members during the second quarter of 2019 to examine the various ways in which hemp has been used in the 28 European countries.

The cultivation of industrial hemp in Europe is regulated differently in each European country. While the uses of hemp fibers and seeds are clearly defined, the use of hemp flowers is open to interpretation, whether in their sale in raw, dried form or in their use for the extraction of non-psychotropic cannabinoids such as CBD or the CBG. The French authorities are thus restricting the use of flowers grown in France or on French soil, even though the Belgium or the Luxembourg sell them freely as tobacco products, and Italy and the Czech Republic do so without any specific restrictions.

«We hope that the EU will follow market trends and be bold enough to initiate regulatory changes capable of attracting the investment needed to increase the production and marketing of hemp-based products,» notes the association’s president, Daniel Kruse, in the report.