Will MILDECA give tobacconists a monopoly on the sale of CBD flowers?

A ministerial meeting was supposed to be held on April 4th, but unaligned government positions and social unrest got the better of it. It was therefore postponed to a later date. The stake, however, for this second meeting on the subject, was to continue to outline the future regulation of CBD flower sales in France.

The scenario has been circulating for a long time, even though it has never been officially requested by tobacconists. Not out of altruism, but because tobacco products are heavily taxed and therefore generate less profit. Whereas CBD is, for the moment, more interesting than a pack of cigarettes in terms of taxes.

According to our information, MILDECA is reportedly working on a drastic tightening of the CBD flower market, potentially to entrust it with a monopoly.

The underlying idea is to establish an excise tax on sales of hemp flowers and to authorize only one distribution channel: tobacco shops. Production would still be entrusted to «active farmers,» as already specified in the Decree of December 30, 2021, who will have to conclude production contracts with manufacturers approved in the customs sense.

Contacted by us, MILDECA does not confirm working on the subject. However, last December it published in a press release that it was «continuing its reflection in order to prevent these risks by developing an adapted regulatory framework for the marketing of these raw flowers and leaves.» But as is common with MILDECA, Communication is complicated.

Philippe Glory, vice-president of the Confederation of Tobacconists and in charge of work on CBD, confirms that MILDECA is in the process of «producing a text.» The Confederation is not invited to the working group, due to the interministerial meeting, and is not asking for exclusive sales.

«They may mention excise taxes, but that doesn’t mean they’re reserved for tobacco retailers,» Philippe Glory tells us. For context, Luxembourg and Belgium have excise taxes of around 30%, to which VAT must be added.

«It's vague, there's nothing written down,» he specifies. He particularly emphasizes to us the need to 'provide good service and quality, which has not always been the case with some of our colleagues when they started marketing CBD.».

On the political front, we contacted Ludovic Mendes, a Renaissance deputy, who is organizing a conference on medical cannabis and CBD next Thursday at the National Assembly. He is also unaware of these meetings, which does not surprise him.

«Every time, it's the same thing. They work behind closed doors and then present a text.»

The Professional Hemp Union echoes the same sentiment, as it is not aware of MILDECA's work or the avenues being considered. A former member nevertheless readily imagines that the interministerial mission still has a lump in its throat the December 2022 snub and will not necessarily want to include the hemp associations that initiated the State Council's decision.

What timing for this project? One of the ideas being considered is to integrate it into the 2024 finance bill (PLF) to begin on January 1, 2024. All that would remain would be to pass a decree to specify all the «rules.» And close all CBD shops in France and Navarre, at the risk of developing a black CBD market?