French CBD industry to challenge CBD product control plan in court

The French CBD will take legal action against the latest government control plan on food products containing cannabidiol. The various parties involved have confirmed that they will jointly lodge an appeal with the European Court of Justice. Council of State.

The legal action will be taken more or less jointly by the’UIVEC, l’Union of CBD Professionals (UPCBD) and the’French Association of Cannabinoid Producers (AFPC). According to these organizations, the appeal will be accompanied by a request for emergency suspension of the measure, and will be lodged as early as June.

This latest dispute follows the deployment of a control plan presented in April by the French Food Directorate (DGAL), a department of the French Ministry of Agriculture, without consulting the industry. The plan aims to tighten controls on CBD-containing food products, effectively threatening half the CBD products on the French market.

A convoluted justification

At the heart of the disagreement is the government's justification for this measure. The authorities cited concerns about the emergence of new synthetic cannabinoids and associated health risks. However, the control plan does not specifically target the substances responsible for these incidents, but only CBD products.

«Our position is clear: this plan misses its public health objective. The authorities cite the new synthetic cannabinoids as justification, when it is precisely these substances that the plan does not specifically target. The cases of intoxication reported by ANSM (Agence nationale de sécurité du médicament et des produits de santé) and ANSES (Agence nationale de sécurité sanitaire de l'alimentation, de l'environnement et du travail) are caused by narcotics added to products, not by CBD extracted from the hemp plant.»

Industry representatives are trying to make clear the distinction between cannabinoids extracted from hemp and synthetic cannabinoids, which are subject to increasingly strict regulatory oversight across Europe. They argue that the government's approach creates confusion between these categories and risks penalizing operators working within the existing legal framework.

Farmers' organizations join in the criticism

In addition to manufacturers and distributors, several agricultural organizations have also expressed their concerns about this measure.

In an open letter to the Minister of Agriculture, the Confédération paysanne called on the government to abandon the project, underlining the role of the hemp industry in support of more than 1,500 farms across France. The organization warned that regulatory uncertainty could have significant consequences for growers who have invested in cannabinoid production.

The FNSEA, France's largest farmers’ union, has also taken a stance on the issue. In a joint statement with the’PSAC, She criticized the government's approach, arguing that the measure had been introduced without prior consultation with industry players and without any transition period.

PSAC met with the Ministry of Agriculture last week, but no concrete progress was made.

For the French CBD market, The next few weeks will be decisive. As the public authorities do not seem to be responding to the arguments of the professional organizations, legal action remains the last option for saving the industry.

The outcome of the discussions could determine not only the future of CBD-containing food products in France, but also the regulatory framework for a sector that has grown rapidly in recent years and now involves thousands of agricultural and commercial players.